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.
Hilarious voice to text messages that'll make you wish people still used landlines
Jessi Campbell: Little girl's brave battle after being born with 1kg cyst on her arm
Piece of 5,800lb battery pallet tossed from NASA's ISS crashes through Florida home
Mariska Hargitay is mistaken for real
How I kept my Easter under £10 by buying no eggs and using year
Could you get your best ever career advice from a ROBOT? The pros and cons of using AI on the job
Hannah Elizabeth puts on a busty display in an off
Temporary 911 outages reported in Nebraska, Texas and other states
Sydney Police searching for an officer over disappearance of two men
Workers at Mercedes factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to vote in May on United Auto Workers union
Why cat urine smells so bad: Scientists reveal what causes the unique stench