“Far greater humanitarian crisis” looms in Afghanistan – UNHCR

As evacuations from Kabul wind down in coming days, “a larger crisis is just beginning” in Afghanistan and for its 39 million people, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Monday, appealing for support.

Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, whose agency said last Friday that up to 500,000 Afghans could flee by year-end, reiterated a call for borders to remain open and for more countries to share “this humanitarian responsibility” with Iran and Pakistan which already host 2.2 million Afghans.

“The airlifts out of Kabul will end in a matter of days, and the tragedy that has unfolded will no longer be as visible. But it will still be a daily reality for millions of Afghans. We must not turn away. A far greater humanitarian crisis is just beginning,” Grandi said in a statement.

Photo: An Afghan girl, who was displaced internally due to conflict and disaster, walks at a temporary shelter provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan. EPA-EFE/JALIL REZAYEE