An Afghan human rights body has said that in just three months nearly one million people have been displaced in Afghanistan due to the Taliban advance.
In a news report by Afghanistan Times, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has said that, "at least 1,58,392 families were displaced in the first quarter of the year, with an estimate of six people per family, the tally of the displaced individuals will reach 950,000".
A survey by the AIHRC showed that 68.1 per cent of the displacement in the war-ravaged nation happened after an emboldened Taliban began taking over Afghan territory noticing the withdrawal of US and NATO troops.
The human rights organisation says that the eastern province of Nangarhar has topped the list with over 2,290 families displaced due to the fighting.
The advancing Taliban forces have detained hundreds of residents for suspicion of having association with the government. The militants have killed detainees who are related to provincial government officials and members of the Afghan police and defence forces.
With increasing number of people being rendered homeless due to the incessant fighting, the US has asked Pakistan not to close its borders to Afghan refugees. Pakistani politicians have stated often that the country will not accept any more refugees from its western neighbour.
Under the new US refugee admission programme for Afghan nationals, a US State Department official told the media: "In a place like Pakistan, it’ll be important that their borders remain open". The US has specifically asked Pakistan and Turkey to allow Afghan refugees into their territories so that they can be registered with the governments or with UNHCR.
Though a large number of Afghans flee into Iran, the US is unable to help them in the absence of diplomatic relations. For such refugees, crossing Iran into Turkey allows them to get registered with UN agencies.
Currently, Afghanistan faces a human disaster as tens of thousands of people face starvation due to lack of food and water as they have been rendered homeless due to the raging conflict. In mid-July the UNHCR—the UN Refugee Agency had estimated that 3.5 million Afghan population has been uprooted over the years.
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The refugees also face the double trouble of Covid-19.
Reports by the UN have shown that many health centres have been destroyed due to the conflict and in some place the health staff has deserted the workplaces out of fear.
The conditions have only worsened for the people in the landlocked country as the Taliban militants have begun to impose Sharia dictats upon the people. The militants have executed common people, journalists, religious scholars, tribal elders and those supposedly working for the government or the security forces.
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The fleeing refugees face extortion by terror groups as well as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
On Friday, in her briefing to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Deborah Lyons, Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said: "… Afghanistan is now at a dangerous turning point. Ahead lies either a genuine peace negotiation or a tragically intertwined set of crises: an increasingly brutal conflict combined with an acute humanitarian situation and multiplying human rights abuses".
She added that the war in Afghanistan has entered a more deadlier and a destructive phase.
