KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Japan has committed $3 million in humanitarian assistance to support Afghan refugees and the communities hosting them in Pakistan, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced.
In a Press Release on Friday, the UNHCR Pakistan said the funding would allow it to deliver essential services to both Afghan refugees and their Pakistani hosts. The support will cover areas such as protection and documentation, gender-based violence, health, and livelihoods.
“This initiative will also deliver primary healthcare services, particularly for women, and provide certified skills training for both refugees and host community members to help them build resilience and sustain their livelihoods,” UNHCR said.
Japan, which ranked as the seventh-largest donor to UNHCR globally in 2024, has contributed more than $14.5 million to refugee assistance programs in Pakistan since 2020, the agency added.
The UN also noted that Japan has been a key supporter of humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, providing over $93 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
The funding comes as Afghan refugees in Pakistan face mounting challenges, including economic hardship, unemployment, and growing pressure to return to Afghanistan. Many have lived in Pakistan for decades, with some families now in their second or third generation.
Despite holding UNHCR-issued documents and other legal papers, some refugees have been ordered to leave the country. Many of them, including those born in Pakistan, have little or no connection to Afghanistan and do not speak the local languages.
According to Pakistani officials, more than 80,000 Afghan refugees have been deported since April 1. Since the crackdown began in November 2023, a total of 907,351 Afghans, majority of them women and children, have either been deported or returned voluntarily.
Humanitarian organizations warn that those returning to Afghanistan face an increasingly dire situation, as the country grapples with a severe human rights crisis and widespread poverty under Taliban rule. Half of the population depends on aid, and international funding continues to decline.
