Forced return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

More than 370,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and make their way to Afghanistan since the Government of Pakistan announced in October that all undocumented foreigners would be deported.

With over 6 million people already internally displaced throughout Afghanistan, IOM said: “Afghans returning from Pakistan face a precarious, uncertain future.” We watch women covered in blue burqas help their children tuck into the cookies. Aiming to reach his home district 80 km across the border from Pakistan, Mir Alan says he has little to look forward to. “I told my relatives that I have to come back but they told me that they do not have a place for me in the village,” he said. “I am sad about the life I left behind and nervous about my future in Afghanistan.”

It’s no wonder families call this season a “countdown to zero”. During the long Afghan winter, heavily snow-laden roads can cut off entire communities, placing them out of the reach of humanitarian agencies. People collect garbage to burn to stay warm.

“These families arrive at the worst of times and face a bleak future in a country where one-third of people do not know where their next meal will come from. Leaving behind their homes and livelihoods, they return to start over in a country that gives them few economic opportunities and where many struggle to survive.”

There is urgently needs of US$26.3 million to support 1 million returnees from Pakistan arriving in Afghanistan, to help them get through the winter and into the first months of next year.