Nine in 10 Afghan families skip meals, take on debt: UNDP

Nine in 10 families in Afghanistan are going hungry or falling into debt as millions of new returnees stretch resources in poverty-stricken areas in the east and north, according to the United Nations. Taliban-controlled Afghanistan – battered by aid cuts, sanctions and repeated natural disasters, including a deadly quake in August – is struggling to absorb 4.5 million people who have returned since 2023. About 1.5 million were forced back this year from Pakistan and Iran, which have intensified efforts to expel Afghan refugees. A UN Development Programme (UNDP) report released on Wednesday said returning Afghans are reeling from severe economic insecurity. More than half of returnee households are skipping medical care to afford food while more than 90 percent have taken on debt, the report said. Their debts range from $373 to $900 when the average monthly income is $100, according to the report, whose findings were based on a survey of more than 48,000 households.
Returnees are also struggling to find decent housing as rent prices have tripled. More than half report lacking sufficient space or bedding while 18 percent report having been displaced for a second time in the past year. In western Afghanistan’s Injil and Guzara districts, “most returnees live in tents or degraded structures,” the report says.