KABUL (Dispatches) – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned that war and insecurity in Afghanistan have displaced 3.5 million people in the country who are on the brink of poverty as the winter season is approaching.
UNHCR’s Spokesperson in Refugees affairs Babur Baloch said that displaced families are lacking shelter, warm clothes, and firewood to heat their houses and added that they also need food, medicines, and other supplies to survive, Khaama Press reported.
“Humanitarian crisis is deepening in Afghanistan and starvation is now at its unprecedented level in the country. 23 million Afghans that form 55% population of the country are facing the highest level of poverty and nine million of them are facing starvation,” added Baloch.
The UN spokesperson, who visited Afghanistan, stated the number of malnourished children is growing, hospitals are nearly overwhelmed with malnourished children and the 3 million of these children are at a critical point.
Baloch added that one million malnourished Afghan children are close to death.
He also said that the UN needs up to $375 million to carry out humanitarian operations during this and next year’s winter season.
Afghanistan is going through potentially the worst humanitarian situation at the moment as millions of people have been laid off, the banking system has been crippled, unemployment rate is at its highest level ever, and prices of food ingredients and fuel are nearly doubled in compared with last year.
Pakistan’s foreign minister called on Saturday for a fresh effort to stop neighboring Afghanistan sliding further into crisis as he announced an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) later this month.
The meeting of foreign ministers from Islamic countries will be held in Islamabad on Dec. 19, with delegations from the European Union and the so-called P5 group of the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China also invited.
“To abandon Afghanistan at this stage would be a historic mistake,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad, warning that half the country was facing the risk of starvation that could trigger further chaos.
Former President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with the BBC that Afghanistan should form an inclusive government that represents all aspects of society in order for the government to gain international recognition.
He named the Loya Jirga (Great Assembly) as a good option to pave the ground for a legitimate government, TOLOnews reported.
He called on the international community to work for the improvement of Afghanistan.