Red Cross: More security and more despair in Afghanistan
Published: Friday, Apr 26th 2024, 13:21
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According to the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the security situation in Afghanistan has improved significantly since the Taliban took power in 2021.
After years of fear of attacks, people are grateful for this, said IFRC Regional Director Alexander Matheou on Friday after a visit to Afghanistan. He spoke to reporters in Geneva from Doha via video link. "Overall security is better than it has been for decades and on the surface it is peaceful," he said.
However, Matheou added: "The future looks extremely bleak." Despair, hopelessness and depression are widespread. This affects women in particular, who are practically excluded from public life under the Taliban's strict Islamic regime. They are hardly allowed to leave their homes. Widows are particularly hard hit because they can no longer feed their children. The local Red Crescent Society supports them in finding ways to earn money. It also supports many traumatized people with mental health problems who can no longer cope with life.
The situation of returnees from Pakistan is particularly precarious, said Matheou. Last year, the neighboring country forced more than half a million Afghans who had fled there to return to their home country. Many of the returnees' children are malnourished and their families are desperate because they see no chance of making a living in Afghanistan, said Matheou. He called for more humanitarian aid funding to be made available for training and support for business start-ups, for example, so that people have prospects of being able to stand on their own two feet.
©Keystone/SDA
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