Neighbours must keep borders open for Afghan refugees: UNHCR

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency,  urges Afghanistan's neighbors to keep borders open for potential refugees as the security situation in the country remains precarious and tens of thousands of Afghans are trying to flee the Taliban,  Catherine Stubberfield, UNHCR’s regional spokesperson for Asia and the Pacific, said that  the international community has to be ready to step up support for Afghanistan and its neighbours in case of a major influx of Afghan refugees. 

Some 400,000 civilians have been forced from their homes since the beginning of the year, joining 2.9 million Afghans already internally displaced across the country at the end of 2020. "While UNHCR welcomes the expressions of solidarity made by several countries to either evacuate or resettle Afghans in need of protection, these efforts are unfortunately only able to benefit a tiny proportion of the millions of Afghans already displaced and in need across the country," the spokeswoman said. UNHCR has hailed the actions taken in some countries to ensure access to asylum procedures from Afghans and to suspend deportations of Afghan nationals who have been previously denied asylum.