The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has called for greater international investment to support the reintegration of Afghan returnees, warning that millions are returning under difficult circumstances while communities face poverty, limited services and restrictions on women and girls.

Speaking at the 77th session of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, the High Commissioner said nearly seven million people had returned to Afghanistan from neighboring countries since late 2023, often under difficult conditions and not always voluntarily.

He said UN agencies and other partners, including the UN Refugee Agency and the United Nations Development Programme, were supporting reintegration efforts, but stressed that the scale of the challenges required significantly greater international assistance.

The High Commissioner also highlighted the restrictions imposed on Afghan women and girls, sharing the words of a young Afghan girl he met in Kabul earlier this year.

The girl had written a poem for another Afghan girl about education, courage and hope, emphasizing that personal ability and worth were greater than any limitation.

“Never forget you’re not alone. Your voice matters and your dreams are valuable,” the girl wrote.

The High Commissioner said the young girl’s words had stayed with him, adding that Afghan girls should not have to be exceptional to enjoy what should be an ordinary future, including access to education, the freedom to make their own choices and the opportunity to become who they want to be.

He said Afghan girls and millions of others like them were not asking the international community to dream on their behalf, but to give them opportunities to fulfil their own aspirations.

He urged world leaders to ensure their commitments were reflected in concrete decisions and actions, saying the ability to make a difference was in their hands.

“History will remember how we choose to use it,” he said.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), says the international community has failed to provide Afghan farmers with the necessary support for alternative livelihoods to sustain the country’s achievements in combating narcotics.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the issue was raised during Muttaqi’s meeting with Thomas Frellesen, the newly appointed European Union special envoy for Afghanistan.

According to a statement from the ministry, the two sides exchanged views on Afghanistan’s security situation, counter-narcotics efforts, and a range of humanitarian and political issues.

Frellesen acknowledged the IEA’s achievements in ensuring security and combating narcotics, saying that supporting security in Afghanistan and fighting drugs were part of the European Union’s official position.

He also assured Muttaqi that the EU would seek to expand cooperation with Afghanistan across various sectors.

The Hairatan railway port in northern Afghanistan receives between 280 and 300 freight wagons daily from Central Asian countries, highlighting its growing role in connecting Afghanistan to regional and international markets.

The 75-kilometer Hairatan–Mazar-e-Sharif railway links Afghanistan with Uzbekistan and provides a key route for transporting goods from Central Asia, China and other international markets into the landlocked country.

Sayed Qadim Karimi, head of railway transportation at Hairatan port, told China’s Xinhua news agency that trade activity had increased this year, with an average of 280 to 300 wagons arriving at the port each day.

He said the railway transports a wide range of goods to Afghanistan, including clothing, medical equipment, machinery and electrical equipment, adding that trade with China had expanded in recent years.

Afghan traders say the railway connection has helped strengthen commercial ties with China and other regional countries while making it easier to transport imported goods.

“We transport our goods from China by freight train via Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and receive them at Hairatan port,” businessman Ahmad Agha told Xinhua.

Agha said trade with Chinese businesses offered promising opportunities and expressed hope that further railway development would strengthen commercial ties with Kazakhstan, Russia and European countries.

He added that rising cargo volumes had created employment opportunities for local residents, with hundreds of workers handling containers at the port daily to support their families.

Another Afghan businessman, Ahmad Farid Fardan, who imports women’s clothing and colorful fabrics from China, said the railway connection had strengthened trade relations between the two countries.

Fardan expressed hope that expanding railway networks would help Afghanistan broaden its trade and economic relations with China and other countries in the region.

The railway’s role in China-Afghanistan trade dates back to 2016, when the first cargo train from China reached Hairatan as part of a pilot project. In 2019, Afghanistan sent its first export train to China, carrying several containers of talc powder.

The Hairatan railway remains an important transport link for Afghanistan’s import and export activities, offering access to regional markets and broader trade networks extending to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, China and Europe.