Humanitarian Crisis In Afghanistan Archives - Lokmarg

Around 28 MN Afghans Will Need Humanitarian Aid In 2023: UN

By LokMarg 3rd December 2022

The UN agency for the coordination of humanitarian affairs stated that Afghanistan continues to face one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with 28.3 million people expected to require aid in the upcoming year, TOLOnews reported.

“Afghanistan faces its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions and the second year of debilitating economic collapse,” TOLOnews reported citing the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“It is estimated that a record 28.3 million people will need humanitarian and protection assistance in 2023, up from 24.4 million in 2022,” the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs added.

In the meantime, the UN requested USD 51 billion on Thursday for those in need in 70 different nations in 2023.

According to UN emergency assistance coordinator Martin Griffiths, the humanitarian needs of some countries are ‘alarmingly great’.

“Five countries are experiencing what we call a famine condition and we can confidently and unhappily say that people are dying,” Griffiths added.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said that the lives of over 8,000 children in Afghanistan are at risk due to food insecurity.

Children in Afghanistan require more humanitarian aid than in the past and hangers are a daily occurrence, TOLOnews reported citing Ezatullah Akbari, head of Human Rights Watch’s media department.

Afghanistan is currently grappling with a serious humanitarian crisis as according to international assessments, the country now has the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity in the world, with more than 23 million in need of assistance and approximately, 95 per cent of the population having insufficient food consumption.

Moreover, the situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power in August last year.

The Ukraine crisis has also had a significant impact on the rise in food prices, making it unaffordable for many Afghans.

Even as the war has ended in the nation, grave human rights violations–particularly against women and minorities–remain unabated. The fundamental rights to non-discrimination, education, employment, public engagement, and health are being denied to women and girls in Afghanistan, reported Khaama Press. (ANI)

Afgh: Taliban Publicly Flogs Boy, Girl For Having Pre-Marital Affair

By LokMarg 18th November 2022

The Taliban authorities in Bamyan province on Friday publicly flogged a boy and a girl for having a pre-marital affair, Khaama Press reported citing local sources.

Earlier, a local court in Bamyan province in Afghanistan had ordered public flogging on November 17.
Arezoo and Mohammad Essa have been sentenced to thirty-nine public floggings as they were allegedly in love and had a premarital affair. According to Khaama Press, around 1,000 people witnessed when the couple was being publically punished.

The couple had traveled to Bamyan for casual reasons when they were forcefully detained by Taliban officials.

Taliban Supremo Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada previously in a meeting with court judges said that they must not hesitate in giving Hadd and Qisas punishments as per Islamic law, according to Khaama Press.

Hadd crimes are punishable by death or amputation of limbs and other harsh punishments and Qisas are ruled as per the eye for an eye law of retributive justice.

Since the Taliban’s hostile takeover of Afghanistan, similar incidents have been happening frequently.

A similar incident happened in the Ghor province of Afghanistan. A girl had committed suicide just before the Taliban had planned to publicly stone the woman on October 16 as she had been found guilty of running away from home with a man. The man whom she had run away with was executed on October 13 this year.

Not only this, human rights situation in Afghanistan has also deteriorated. Prior to this, Mahmood Shah Habibi, the former Afghan Aviation Authority Chief had recently traveled to Afghanistan and is missing since August 10 this year.

After the Taliban’s hostile takeover, the social and economic status of the country’s girls has also deteriorated.

The report, titled Breaking point: Life for children one year since the Taliban takeover, shows that 97 percent of families are struggling to provide enough food for their children and that girls are eating less than boys. (ANI)

Taliban Faces Backlash For Detaining Women’s Rights Activists

By LokMarg 18th November 2022

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has now demanded reasons for the continued detention of Zarifa Yaqoubi and other human rights activists, Khaama Press reported.

UNAMA has further added that it is seeking to access and contact the detained activists and know their whereabouts. UNAMA has also stressed that the detainees must have the right to contact their family members even when these activists have been detained in unknown locations by the Taliban, Khaama Press reported.
UNAMA has urged this when the harsh treatment of Taliban forces toward human rights activists extremely deteriorates the human rights situation in the country after its hostile takeover of the country.

Previously, Taliban forces had arrested woman journalists and human rights activists which included Zarifa Yaqoubi on November 3. During the arrest armed male and female officers of Taliban forces barged into a press conference held in Dasht-e-Barchi a neighbourhood in Kabul. Just after the arrest, the mobile phones of these detainees including Zarifa Yaqoubi were taken by force.

Yet another woman rights activist Farhat Popalzai had been allegedly detained on November 8. As there has been no information about Farhat’s whereabouts since November 8, Khama Press reported citing local sources.

Afghan Delegation To Discuss Humanitarian Crisis In Vienna

By LokMarg 7th September 2022

At least thirty-one political and intellectual figures from Afghanistan will discuss the ongoing political as well as humanitarian crisis and put forward a critical perspective on the Taliban’s rule in a Vienna meeting which is scheduled to take place on September 15 at the UN office in Vienna.

The Vienna meeting on the current situation in Afghanistan and challenges will be convened on September 15 in the Austrian capital in the presence of political figures from Afghanistan, including women’s rights activists, former members of the parliament representing different provinces, journalists, and researchers, according to Khaama Press.
The Participating members of the Vienna meeting are the leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF) Ahmad Massoud, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, women’s rights activist and former member of Afghan Delegation for Peace Negotiation, Fawzia Kofi, and former Afghan Ambassador to Norway, Shukria Barekzai, amongst many.

According to Khaama Press, the plight of Afghans, the economic system’s breakdown, the deprivation of education for girls, restrictions on the media’s activities, and the escalation of terrorist groups’ activities under Taliban rule will be discussed during the Vienna meeting at the UN office.

According to international assessments, Afghanistan now has the highest number of people in emergency food insecurity, with more than 23 million in need of assistance, and approximately 95 per cent of the population having insufficient food consumption.

Of particular concern is the vulnerability of more than four million internally displaced, including people belonging to minorities and over 3.5 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.

More than 24.4 million people need humanitarian aid in Afghanistan–an increase from 18.4 million in 2021, according to a report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The report states that the Taliban takeover of the country and the resulting cut in international assistance has led to a worsening humanitarian crisis and approximately 70 per cent of the Afghans are unable to provide for their basic needs on a daily basis. (ANI)

‘Taliban Says Nice Things On TV, Do The Opposite On Ground’

By LokMarg 24th August 2021

Nasima Ahmadi, 32, a Hazara Afghan from Mazar-i-Sharif came to Delhi when her city was surrounded by Taliban gunmen last month. Ahmadi says she cannot think of a dignified life under Taliban rule

I belong to Shia Hazara community in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Last month, the city was surrounded by Taliban gunmen and they were close to capture it. Desperate to leave Mazar-i-Sharif before the violence reached us, we applied for Indian medical visa. While I manage to bring my two children and in-laws here to Delhi, my own parents are still there and I fear for them.

In the one month that I am here in Bhogal (South Delhi) the situation is completely changed in Afghanistan. Of whatever little I have spoken to my family back in Afghanistan, the situation is not what the TV channels are showing. The Taliban militia forcibly enter into people’s houses at night, and conduct ruthless searches… I wonder what they are looking for. They also take away young girls with them at gunpoint and these women are never heard of again. One of my own uncles has been killed by the Taliban.

On TV, the Taliban leaders say girls can go to schools and study, they can take up a job, there are no restrictions… this and that. But they are telling blatant lies. Girls are not allowed to go to school, nor work. And our community (Shia Hazaras) faces the harshest persecution.

Our only crime is that we belong to the Hazara community. Can you imagine belonging to a community being a crime in any other part of the world? We cannot go to Afghanistan now; Hazaras cannot think of a life under Taliban rule.

ALSO READ: ‘Talibans Are Savage, I Fear For My Family In Afghanistan’

When the Taliban was in power last time in the late 1990s and we were in Afghanistan, the situation was horrible. The Taliban barred schooling for women. That is why I couldn’t get a proper education. That is why I always wanted to provide good education to my children. After the Taliban was rooted out of power, the situation started to improve and life got better for the common man. Now when the barbarians are back in power, the horror has returned to Afghanistan.

There is nothing worse than having forced to leave one’s homeland. We had constructed a new house recently but had to leave everything behind. We could only bring our savings and some clothes. We don’t know now if the house is abandoned. What keeps us going is our resolve to find a better life for our children.

There are only two more months before our visa expires, and we have been going to various embassies in New Delhi for help and asylum. We haven’t been able to get any help so far though. Everyone gives us an email id and asks us to send our details, problem and why we want a visa. I recently went to the American Embassy for help too. We are trying to get a visa so we can go to the US.

My husband is employed in Dubai. So I have to do the running around here to find a safe shelter for my children and family. If nothing happens in the next two months that our visa for India holds, I do not know what shall be our status. I request everyone reading this to help the displaced Afghans.

(The picture is representational as Ahmadi declined to share her photograph for safety reasons)

As Told To Mamta Sharma

An Afghan Student Who Also Works at A Delhi

‘Taliban Are Savage, I Fear For My Family In Afghanistan’

By LokMarg 17th August 2021

Sayed Idris, 26, an Afghan student who also works at a Delhi eatery, says he can only pray for the safety of his family left behind in Afghanistan

I don’t know what the future has in store for me and my family; I spend sleepless nights worrying about the members of my family left behind in Afghanistan. Only my elder sister and I could make our way to India, my parents and another brother and a sister are still in Kabul, the city I grew up in. With news of Taliban capturing Kabul, I wonder if I would ever be able to see my family again.

My sister and I came to India in 2019 and ever since then things have only worsened in Afghanistan. Each day people live in fear. These Taliban fighters are brutal and barbaric; they have no humanity in them and they don’t heed to any logic.

I don’t want to go through the story of the journey we made from Kabul to Delhi, but no one wants to leave his or her motherland unless forced by circumstances. It broke my heart to leave my family and country and start a new life elsewhere without them. Thankfully technology is still intact in Afghanistan and we can at least talk to our family members each day over the phone.

Even though we both didn’t know a word of Hindi before we landed here, India and Indians welcomed us with open arms. The neighbours are very nice and never treat us differently. My sister and I can now speak Hindi a little.

***Idris says he feels helpless and can only pray for his family***

We live in Delhi along with many other Afghan refugees. Life here has been much better here than it was there, especially for my sister. She feels respected here as a human. There is no education, no scope for employment, basically no future back there. Women are really treated badly by the Taliban and my sisters were ‘discouraged’ from studying or working, as if they have no dreams or ideas of their own.

We have a distantly related uncle living nearby and we look up to him. I work at an eatery making Afghani bread and also take online classes for learning English and Computers. My sister has also enrolled for the same courses and it makes me happy to see her making progress, free and away from the eyes of the Taliban.

I wish we can both stand on our own feet soon and get our family here. Thankfully I was working at an eatery which didn’t suffer so much from lockdown. If I were working in any other kind of business, I don’t know how we would survive.

ALSO READ: Taliban In Frame, Afghanistan In Flames

Afghanistan has had a taste of Taliban rule before and most people knew how it could turn out again and so decided to come to India. My only wish and hope is that the rest of my family can join us too and that my country finds peace.

I hope the international powers that are will find a solution to the problem soon and I feel India’s voice matters a lot in times like these. The international community has to come together and stand up for Afghanistan otherwise it will have ramifications for the whole world. Bahut mushkil waqt hai, dua ke alawa ab kuch aur nahi kar sakte. (These are tough times. It is all in God’s hands now. We can only pray for the safety of everyone).

– As Told To Yog Maya Singh