RASC News Agency: Save The Children recently made an announcement regarding the expulsion of Afghanistani migrants from Pakistan, stating that 80 percent of those being returned to Afghanistan are women and children. In a statement issued on November 17th, the organization highlighted the heightened risk of serious illnesses, such as diarrhea, among the thousands of migrants who have been expelled from Pakistan in recent weeks and sent back to Afghanistan.
The organization’s statement also emphasized the rapid spread of diseases in the returnees. Over the past month, the organization’s health centers have recorded more than three thousand cases of acute respiratory infections and one thousand two hundred cases of diarrhea among the returning children. The save the children continues to explain that the returnees’ exposure to dust and their living conditions in overcrowded and smoky shelters are contributing factors to the severe respiratory infections.
According to the organization, many families are being transported back to Afghanistan in overcrowded cargo trucks. almost one in four returnees is a child under the age of five, and more than 60 percent of the returnees are children under 17 years old. Irshad Malik, the head of the save the children in Afghanistan, expresses deep concern regarding the escalating cases of acute respiratory infections and diarrhea among the returnees from Pakistan.
He further warns that if the chaotic return of migrants from Pakistan continues, the challenges of providing adequate water and health facilities, especially for families and girls, will only increase. These alarming developments are occurring alongside a United Nations report that reveals the expulsion of over three hundred thousand Afghanistani migrants from Pakistan until now since September.
