United Nations High Council for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi underscored the need for continued international commitment to help Afghan refugees in order to avert disastrous consequences amid multiplying hardships in Afghanistan
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) United Nations High Council for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi underscored the need for continued international commitment to help Afghan refugees in order to avert disastrous consequences amid multiplying hardships in Afghanistan.
At the end of a five-day trip to the country that coincides with the UN-backed donor pledging conference for Afghanistan, which began in Geneva on Monday, Grandi said in a statement that the fate of Afghan refugees depended on the outcome of peace talks and donor countries' commitment to Afghanistan's development.
"Failure on either account," Grandi said, "would see Afghanistan slide backwards with disastrous consequences, including further displacement possibly on a large scale."
According to figures provided by the agency, fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces has led to some 300,000 people becoming internally displaced in 2020 alone. Combined with the three million previously displaced and the nine million people who have lost their livelihoods due to the COVID-19, Afghanistan is in acute need of humanitarian assistance, the statement read.
Grandi welcomed talks between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran on two latter countries' efforts to grant documentation to the approximately 2.4 million Afghan refugees, many of whom have spent their entire lives in foreign refugee camps.
The 2020 Afghanistan Conference kicked off virtually on Monday with the UN's Palace of Nations serving as the hub. The quadrennial pledging conference is expected to bring together 70 nations and organizations to set out development and aid objectives for the 2021-2024 period.
