Overview
Millions of Afghans need help rebuilding their lives and country. While all Afghans suffer from the government’s poor capacity and the lack of services, Afghan returnees and internally displaced have been neglected and are particularly vulnerable. To increase regional stability, the United States and other donor nations must allocate their resources differently to tackle problems that are specific to vulnerable Afghans.

Current Humanitarian Situation
Since 2002, in the largest refugee return process ever, over five million Afghans have gone home, the vast majority from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. More than half of these returns took place within the first two years, as Afghans seized the opportunity to rebuild their lives and their country following the fall of the Taliban regime. Today more than three million registered refugees remain in exile – 2.1 million in Pakistan and 0.9 million in Iran – and hundreds of thousands more are living abroad to escape economic hardship or targeted violence. Many are now being pressured to return home despite the fact that living conditions are not always secure or provide livelihood opportunities.

The security situation inside Afghanistan continues to deteriorate in many parts of the country, making it difficult for the UN and international aid agencies to provide adequate assistance. Armed conflict and natural disasters have displaced around 270,000 Afghans, including more than 100,000 in the south where it is most difficult to deliver assistance. Programs targeted specifically at the displaced and the returnees are needed to ensure that these particularly vulnerable segments of the population benefit directly from the money being poured into the country.

Action Needed

• The U.S. administration should increase the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance’s budget to respond to humanitarian emergencies and fund programs targeted at internally displaced people.