ISLAMABAD (AP) — A quarter of a million Afghan children need education, food and homes after being forcibly returned from Pakistan, a nongovernmental organization said Thursday.
Pakistan is cracking down on foreigners it alleges are in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans. It insists the campaign is not directed against Afghans specifically, but they make up most of the foreigners in the country.
More than 520,000 Afghans have left Pakistan since last October.
Save the Children said families are entering Afghanistan with “virtually nothing” and that nearly half of all returnees are children.
A survey of families by the NGO said nearly all of them lacked enough food for the next one to two months. Some returnees and host families had to borrow money for food or rely on friends and relatives for food.
Almost two thirds of children who have returned to Afghanistan have not been enrolled in school, according to Save the Children. The majority told the organization they don’t have the necessary documents to register and enroll in school. In Pakistan, more than two-thirds of these children had been attending school, it said.
Justice Department ramps up efforts to reduce violent crime with gun intel center
Waitangi 2024: Watch government leaders speak at the Treaty Grounds
Two dead, three critically injured after 100 people brawl in Gisborne
Week in Politics: Government's year starts with a problem
Love Island's Molly Marsh displays her incredible figure in a logo
EDITORIAL: China should walk the talk with what it says on foreign policy
Israel strikes on Rafah to cover hostage extraction kill 37 people
EDITORIAL: Plan needed so no quake victims will ever be left behind again
Harbaugh likes Chargers being in the fifth overall position going into the NFL draft
Fa'anānā Efeso Collins: Warning over fake livestream links for funeral
Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are OVERPAID at $75k
Watch: Latest police teams graduate from Dog Training Centre