A total of USD 17.1 million in supplementary* requirements
- The requirements highlighted in this appeal document are in addition to those presented in UNHCR’s Global Appeal 2015 Update. They are fully reflected in the 2015 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan.
Read the entire Refugee Response in Afghanistan here
Since June 2014, more than 290,000 refugees from Pakistan have arrived in Afghanistan following military operations in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency. The majority have settled in host communities across two provinces, Khost and Paktika, but a number of families settled in an open area of Gurboz district, known as Gulan, in Khost province. As winter approached and the ability of host families to accommodate refugees diminished, increasing numbers of refugees arrived in Gulan in need of protection and assistance and formed a large, makeshift camp. Approximately 10,000 families are currently accommodated in the camp.
By December 2014, the number of displaced families crossing into Afghanistan in search of protection had increased almost fourfold, from approximately 10,000 families to more than 38,900 (291,800 individuals). While limited spontaneous returns are likely to have occurred, either to areas of origin or to other parts of Pakistan, the majority of refugees are still observing the development of the situation in their places of origin before making a decision on return.
UNHCR launched an inter-agency Refugee Response Plan in July 2014, which covered requirements to respond to the most urgent needs for 13,000 families up to the end of 2014. The present document reflects UNHCR’s requirements for refugees from Pakistan for the period 1 January – 31 December 2015, which are also included in the Refugee and Returnee Chapter of the 2015 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). It highlights immediate emergency needs and community-based, solutions-oriented interventions for 30,000 vulnerable families (225,000 individuals) in 2015. It foresees that, after the initial emergency phase, refugees will remain in Afghanistan in anticipation of gradual voluntary repatriation starting in 2016, in alignment with the Government of Pakistan’s programme for the return of internally displaced people (IDPs) to North Waziristan. UNHCR’s planned response is based on an estimate of 225,000 individual beneficiaries, taking into account spontaneous returns during 2015.
