The United Nations Women’s Section has recently stated that women and girls forced to return to Afghanistan are facing increasing dangers of poverty, early marriage, violence, exploitation, and restrictions on their rights and freedoms.
In a joint statement, this agency and the international relief organization “CARE” emphasized that returning women and girls urgently need humanitarian aid and sustainable support to rebuild their lives in communities already under severe economic and environmental pressures.
The statement noted that since September 2023, over 2.43 million undocumented individuals have returned from Iran and Pakistan.
It also mentioned that women and girls make up one-third of the returnees from Iran and about half of the total returnees from Pakistan.
Furthermore, it highlighted that many of these women are returning to a country where they have never lived and are facing conditions of homelessness, lack of income, and no access to education or healthcare.
The statement continued: “Returning women and girls, like all women and girls in Afghanistan, face increasing risks of poverty, early marriage, violence, exploitation, and unprecedented restrictions on their rights, movement, and freedoms.”
The statement quoted Susan Ferguson, the UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan, saying: “Vulnerable women and girls arriving in communities that have already reached breaking point with nothing are at even greater risk.”
She emphasized that more funding is needed for targeted support for returning women.
It is noteworthy that the severe reduction in humanitarian aid budgets has significantly weakened the capacity of humanitarian organizations to respond to needs.
Graham Davison, the director of the international relief agency “CARE” in Afghanistan, stressed: “We urgently need support to provide essential services, safe spaces, and protection for returning women and girls.”
He added that women and girls are returning to Afghanistan with distress, confusion, and despair.
The UN Women’s Section and CARE stated: “We call on the international community to act now – to protect the rights of Afghan women and girls and invest in the women aid workers who tirelessly strive to support them on the front lines.”
