VANCOUVER, CANADA – The Taliban have initiated the demolition of homes belonging to around 6,000 internally displaced people in Kabul. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the Taliban have begun dismantling the temporary shelters of 800 families, which includes approximately six thousand internally displaced individuals. This process started on Sunday, June 2.
The NRC, in a statement released on Tuesday, June 4, said that the Taliban decision displaces once again those who have already been displaced. Many of the families whose shelters are being destroyed say they have nowhere else to go.
Neil Turner, the head of the NRC office in Kabul, stated that he was “shocked” by the Taliban’s decision to forcibly evict the internally displaced people. “These are some of the most vulnerable communities in Afghanistan,” Turner said, “Several families our teams in Kabul have spoken with reported that after their homes were destroyed by Taliban officials, they had nowhere to go.”
The NRC has urged the Taliban to halt the forced evictions and demolition of temporary shelters until a long-term solution is found. Turner emphasized the severe impact of the ongoing situation, saying that the decision is “forcing affected families into new endless cycles of displacement.”
Afghanistan continues to grapple with an escalating humanitarian, economic, and social crisis, which has intensified since the Taliban’s return to power. Many of those living in makeshift shelters in Kabul come from provinces where conflict or natural disasters have made survival difficult for many over the years. The NRC noted that the expulsion of around 600,000 migrants and refugees from Pakistan has significantly increased the number of displaced individuals in Afghanistan.
Statistics from the NRC indicate that by the end of 2023, 4.2 million people were displaced due to past conflicts, and another 1.5 million people were displaced due to natural disasters in Afghanistan.
The demolition of homes and temporary camps of internally displaced people by the Taliban is not a new phenomenon. Last summer, the NRC reported that the Taliban destroyed temporary camps of 280 families, resulting in the death of two children.
The country director of NRC at the time said that the displaced people living in temporary camps in Kabul were struggling with numerous problems, including the economic crisis, and their eviction raised serious concerns about increasing humanitarian needs.
According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, around 3,000 refugees who were forcibly evicted returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan in one day. Among the returned individuals, 449 were identified as needing assistance and received food and non-food items from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The ministry also reported that 27 unaccompanied children were among these individuals and were introduced to the ‘War Child’ organisation. In a separate statement, the Taliban ministry said that 599 other refugees were forcibly expelled from Pakistan and entered Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak borders. They were referred to IOM, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the World Food Program (WFP) to receive assistance.
The return and expulsion of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan have surged in recent days. According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees, thousands of people are forcibly deported and voluntarily leaving these two countries daily. The influx further exacerbates the humanitarian crisis faced by internally displaced persons in Afghanistan.
