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UNHCR and Uzbekistan provide winter assistance for Afghanistan

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The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, with the support of the Government of Uzbekistan, has sent 12 trucks with over 48,000 blankets through the International Multifunctional Transport and Logistics Hub in Termez, Uzbekistan, to Afghanistan to provide life-saving assistance to forcibly displaced persons and other vulnerable people in Afghanistan during the harsh winter.

The consignments were dispatched from UNHCR’s Regional Humanitarian Logistics Hub established with the support of the Government of Uzbekistan in October 2021.

Located in the Termez Cargo Centre – 2km from the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border – the hub enables UNHCR to rapidly replenish national stockpiles, in the region and be more agile in its humanitarian response.

“UNHCR jointly with the Government of Uzbekistan are making all efforts to continue most critical life-saving humanitarian aid to the Afghan population. This is vital, especially during this cold winter. Thanks to support by the Uzbek Government and local partners, UNHCR can quickly assist to meet urgent needs of women, children, and men in Afghanistan,” said Frank Remus, UNHCR Senior Liaison Officer.

The Termez hub serves as the main consolidation and transfer point to deliver assistance to UNHCR’s operations in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Central Asia and beyond. In 2021-2022, the hub sent 217 trucks of essential relief items needed by households forcibly displaced as well as when caught up in natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. Critical relief items dispatched from UNHCR’s Termez Regional Humanitarian Logistics Hub include sleeping mats, tarpaulins, heavy duty buckets, blankets, stainless steel kitchen sets, jerry cans, and portable solar LED lamps.

Natural disasters like earthquakes in northwestern Afghanistan (January 2022), southeastern Afghanistan (June 2022) and eastern Afghanistan (September 2022) as well as record summertime flooding in Afghanistan and in neighbouring Pakistan saw significant distribution efforts of emergency relief supplies.

In 2022 UNHCR aided 5.9 million persons throughout all 34 provinces of Afghanistan with core relief items and cash assistance as well as protection and reintegration activities.

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Russia’s Supreme Court suspends ban on Islamic Emirate

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Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to suspend the Islamic Emirate’s designation as a banned organization in Russia, following a formal request from the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Although the IEA remains officially designated as a terrorist organization in Russia, the court’s ruling effectively freezes that classification, opening the door to broader political engagement.

The IEA, however, continues to be subject to United Nations sanctions.

According to Russian media reports, a representative of the IEA attended the closed-door court session, during which the court reviewed the prosecutor’s petition seeking to suspend the ban.

“The suspension follows an administrative lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation,” Supreme Court Judge Oleg Nefyodov said while reading the ruling, according to local media.

The session was held behind closed doors, and Russian authorities have not yet publicly commented on the potential political implications of the move.

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Qatar’s minister of state holds phone call with acting FM Muttaqi

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Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, held a telephone conversation with Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of Afghanistan on Thursday where they discussed bilateral issues.

Zia Ahmad Takal, head of public relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement on Thursday that the two sides discussed enhancing diplomatic relations, expanding cooperation between the two countries, and Muttaqi’s upcoming visit to Doha.

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WATCH: Authorities scramble to accommodate refugee influx at Afghanistan border

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As thousands of refugees cross back into Afghanistan amid Pakistan’s campaign to forcibly expel over 1 million Afghans, local officials scramble to accommodate the influx which also means areas of landmines need to be cleared around the Torkham border area in order to establish more tented camps.

The mines and other unexploded ordnance are remnants of Afghanistan’s 20 year war that ended with the collapse of the former US-backed government in August 2021.

Government officials who visited Torkham this week say they are ready to cooperate with returning refugees.

Nooruddin Torabi, the head of the National Disaster Preparedness Agency, visited Torkham on Tuesday. He stressed the need to clear the area of mines and unexploded ordnance.

Torabi also said that another transit camp would be established to temporarily accommodate the returnees.

Refugees however have slammed the Pakistan government for the way they have handled this. Many say they are now homeless after having left everything behind, including houses, businesses and possessions. In addition to this, a large percentage of them have nowhere to go after having lived in Pakistan for decades.

Afghans have been fleeing to Pakistan for over 40 years – since the invasion of the old Soviet Union in December 1978.

Islamic Relief reported this week that tens of thousands of Afghans are facing dire conditions in makeshift camps after crossing the border from Pakistan.

According to the organization, an assessment team that visited Torkham found that many refugees are arriving in Afghanistan without any shelter, food, cash or water. These families were forced to leave possessions – including animals and household items.

People arrive in droves, covered in dust, crammed onto trucks, and face a barren border with no basic services in sight. The first thing that greets them is a harsh, wind storm swirling with dust.

This influx comes amid an economic crisis in the country and as global cuts to humanitarian funding have forced many essential services in Afghanistan to close, including health facilities and food distributions.

Many of the new arrivals have lived in Pakistan for decades after seeking refuge there, fleeing conflicts and instability in their homeland. They include children who were born in Pakistan and have never been to Afghanistan. Many others no longer have close family members in

Afghanistan or have not visited for many years. They are not truly ‘returning home’ as they hardly know Afghanistan and have no homes or livelihoods to kickstart their lives here.

Some of the arrivals do not even speak an Afghan language and many returnees lack proper identification documents.

The interim Afghan government has pledged to take care of refugees returning to Afghanistan and humanitarian organizations are ramping up efforts to help these refugees.

Pakistan last month set an early April deadline for some 800,000 Afghans carrying Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) issued by the Pakistani authorities to leave the country, in the second phase of efforts to remove Afghans. More than 1.3 million Afghans who hold Proof of Registration cards from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, have also been told to move outside the capital Islamabad and the neighbouring city of Rawalpindi

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