Hundreds of Afghans, displaced in recent years by violence and who had found refuge in Kabul, left the capital on Thursday to return to their homes in the east of the country, almost a year after the end of the conflict that had forced them to flee. .
About 1,600 people – men, women and children – have returned to their provinces of origin, with the help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said an AFP journalist.
Each family received $200 (197 euros) in cash to buy food and basic necessities, according to UNHCR.
“We’re going home”
Millions of Afghans have been displaced by the two decades of Taliban-led insurgency, which ended with their return to power in mid-August 2021 and the subsequent departure of the last US troops.
“It’s a wonderful day, we’re going home,” Sardar Wali, 45, a farmer from Laghman province, who fled to Kabul a few months before the Taliban came to power, told AFP. . “Even if our house had been hit and damaged by the mortars, we would rebuild it.”
Most of the displaced had to live in tents in the capital, and those who tried to rent houses often found they could not afford it.
“Our children pick up pieces of plastic and my husband is elderly. We cannot afford to live here,” said Pari Gul.
Many displaced people would like to return to their homes. “Everyone likes to live in their village,” said Huma, 36, as he prepared to board a bus. “So we’re off, thinking at least we’re going home.”
The Afghan economy is in ruins and tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs due to the freezing by the international community of the aid that made it possible to finance nearly 75% of the Afghan budget, after the departure of the Americans.
Around 3.5 million people remain displaced in Afghanistan, according to UNHCR.
Source: BFM TV
