International community must not forget Afghans: refugees minister

The international community should not forget the Afghan people and should not politicize the humanitarian issue, the country’s minister of refugees and repatriation said on Sunday.

“We ask all the countries of the world to put politics, formalities and military issues aside. Immigration has its own rules. The ministry of refugees was created to solve the problems of refugees,” Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani said in an aid distribution ceremony in Kabul.

He noted that now that peace prevails throughout Afghanistan, the international community should cooperate with them in returning Afghan refugees instead of forcing Afghans to migrate.

“The international community should provide livelihoods and transportation facilities. The international community should not forget the people of Afghanistan,” Haqqani said.

In Afghanistan, many families struggle with poverty, so women and men stand in long queues to receive aid.

Among the needy women, there are also those who have even been forced to give their children to others out of poverty.

“I gave my daughter to my sister out of necessity. I could not afford bread and clothes for her,” Gulnar, one of the needy women said.

“My husband is jobless. We are four in our family,” Shakiba, another woman said.

Although aid is a short term solution to helping the needy, officials have called for large, sustainable programs in order to eradicate poverty.

“Ten aid items will be distributed. These materials are enough for a family of five to seven people for three months. We have also considered nutritional balance. For example, this aid includes flour, rice, dal, sugar, tea and salt,” said Fariduddin Nouri, head of Women for Afghan Women NGO.