While the world’s focus has long since shifted, the humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan continues to be one of the worst and most severe anywhere.
According to the United Nations, a record 28.3 million people, or roughly two-thirds of the population, need humanitarian protection and aid, and six million of them are already dangerously near to famine. Girls and women are more at risk.
Fatima has lunch with her two older children. Mostly the family eats bread and drinks tea during the day. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]
In the heart of Afghanistan’s mountains, in Bamyan, was the UN agency for refugees. The harsh weather, which impacted the poorest and most vulnerable people most hard, including some who had just moved back to the area after being uprooted by decades of conflict, was the coldest in more than a decade.
[Julian Busch/UNHCR]
With nowhere else to go, some families are even sheltering in ancient caves. Others have taken out loans or borrowed from neighbors to withstand Afghanistan’s economic freefall, which has sent food prices skyrocketing.
UNHCR says it is working to find solutions for people living precariously in the caves and is attempting to work on on land allocated by the local authorities, where 144 families will be provided homes. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]Shaima, 66, with her two grandchildren in her small house in Sabzi, Bamyan province. Together with her son’s family and two other relatives, she has been running a small carpet business for many years. But since the fall of the former government, it has become increasingly difficult to sell the rugs. ‘No one has money to buy,’ she says. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]Jawad 27, with his son in their house in Sherbatoo village in Bamyan province. He has four children and works as a farmer to feed the family. But since the Taliban came to power, the family’s economic situation has deteriorated, he says. They don’t have enough money to buy flour and oil to bake bread. ‘We have no hope for the future,’ he says. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]Nasim and his family in their small cave on the outskirts of Bamyan. Nasim normally works as a construction worker, but he has been unemployed for several months during the winter. The family lacks food and clothing. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]Marwa Faizi, 30, puts wood into the oven in her small home in Sabzi village, Bamyan province. Her husband was killed during the war while serving in the Afghan army. Since then, she has been a single mother, taking care of her four children. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]
![Fatima stands with her daughter in front of her home in a cave in Bamyan. She was displaced two years ago. When she moved back to Bamyan with three of her children, she had no money for rent and moved into a cave. [Julian Busch/UNHCR]](https://mmnews.tv/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Afghans-living-in-caves.jpg)
