---
title: "We can still avert a catastrophe"
description: "Thousands of refugees returning from Pakistan to Afghanistan are in dire need of support. Many families are staying in the open and with limited water and sanitation facilities."
url: "https://www.nrc.no/news/2016/september/afghanistan-we-can-still-avert-a-catastrophe"
language: "en"
published: "2016-09-07T15:12:33Z"
modified: "2016-09-07T15:38:24Z"
---

An undocumented returnee family bundles children and belongings on the back of a truck returning to Afghanistan. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)

# We can still avert a catastrophe

Tiril Skarstein|Published 07. Sep 2016

[Afghanistan](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=29) [Pakistan](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=93) [War and conflict](https://www.nrc.no/themes?categoryId=308)

This article was first published more than 10 years ago

Thousands of refugees returning from Pakistan to Afghanistan are in dire need of support. Many families are staying in the open and with limited water and sanitation facilities.

“These people are living in appalling conditions, still we fear that the worst is yet to come,” warned Jan Egeland, Secretary General of NRC.

"The number of refugees returning is increasing and the wet winter season is approaching. We urgently need to scale up the support. We can still avert a catastrophe," he added.

The number of people returning has sky-rocketed during the last six weeks. 225,000 people have returned from Pakistan and Iran so far in 2016, out of which 136,000 are without the appropriate documents. And the number of undocumented returnees is expected to reach 400,000 before the end of the year. Because these people have not been registered as refugees, they do not receive the same support as registered refugees do upon return.

On 7 September, the United Nations launched an appeal triggered by the recent surge in return of registered refugees and undocumented Afghans from Pakistan. They are requesting US$ 152 million to support the increasing number of returnees and newly displaced.

Most of the undocumented returnees from Pakistan have settled in Nangarhar, a province which still is affected by conflict and already hosts a large number of displaced Afghans.

[Download photos for free use for media.](https://nrc.smugmug.com/Country-Programmes/Afghanistan/Afghanistan-2016/Afghanistan-Forced-Return/n-skGv5V/ "Smugmug") *(Photos credit: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)*

- This girl´s family arrived in Afghanistan ten days ago, as they felt forced to leave their homes and lives as Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Her family sleeps without in an unfinished compound sharing with another family. They only have a few days of food left. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)
  This boy arrived with his father and brothers ten days ago, to find somewhere safe to stay. They have been Afghan refugees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They are expecting another 18 people from their extended family to join them in the next two days. They found this area, and a previous beneficiary of NRC in eastern Afghanistan re-constructed tents for them to stay in for a few days. They prepared this tent today for their relatives to stay in. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)
  A girl stands in front of her family’s tents—her new home after her father and uncle felt forced to leave Pakistan four days ago. There is no water or bathroom here, and they only have food enough for a few days. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)

  ![This boy is exhausted and malnourished after his family felt forced to flee their lives as refugees in Pakistan and return to Afghanistan. He lies underneath a half-collapsed, aging tent. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek) ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/return-from-pakistan-201617/jalalabad_nrc_jimhuylebroek-4.jpg) ![Mansour (two weeks old) was born two days after his family of Afghan refugees returned from Pakistan. That heavily pregnant refugees feel forced to return indicates the desperation of the situation. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek) ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/return-from-pakistan-201617/jalalabad_nrc_jimhuylebroek-7.jpg) ![Some undocumented returnee families are too poor to afford lorry rental to transport their goods, and can only move what they can carry on public transport and by foot. This family brings blankets and clothes through the Pakistan border by wheelbarrows. Border staff estimate 40-60 returnee families cross without vehicles every day. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek) ](https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/images/countries/afghanistan/return-from-pakistan-201617/jalalabad_nrc_jimhuylebroek-12.jpg)
  NRC staff interview an undocumented returnee family that have slept in a partially destroyed compound, amongst the dust and open sky. (Photo: NRC/Jim Huylebroek)

"Many families are living in the open and in over-crowded dwellings, with limited food and sanitation facilities. We fear the spread of contagious diseases," said NRC’s Protection Adviser Will Carter, who has been part of a recent humanitarian assessment in Nangarhar.

"We are in a race against time to provide enough shelter and sanitation facilities to families arriving before the wet winter season," he added.

The Norwegian Refugee Council has started to provide emergency shelter and cash-based support to returnees, with support from donors such as the European Union and Sweden.

It is estimated that one million people will be either returning or newly displaced within Afghanistan by the end of the year. This adds to the more than 3.5 million people in Afghanistan who are already in need of assistance.

See also the humanitarian appeal[here](https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/afghanistan/document/afghanistan-flash-appeal-2016-one-million-people-move)