Support and Protect Families in Afghanistan

In October, the governments of Pakistan and Iran announced the forced expulsion of over 1 million Afghan refugees from their respective countries. The expulsion of so many Afghans before the beginning of winter placed an enormous burden on the fragile economy of Afghanistan, where over 40% of the population lives under the poverty line. We also know that when large groups of people move to new and unfamiliar areas, they are especially at risk of landmines and explosive dangers.

HALO quickly held risk education sessions with these groups to teach them how to stay safe from landmines and what to do if they encounter an explosive hazard.

HALO’s support was also urgently requested in Dasht Daman, Ghazni. Authorities starting building homes for the returning refugees, but construction was quickly suspended after two landmine accidents. HALO discovered the entire site was within an anti-vehicle and IED minefield. HALO cleared this land so that 500 homes can be built for 3,500 Afghan returnees.

Authorities plan to clear two more sites to construct an additional 1,750 homes for about 15,750 returnees, if funding can be secured.

As a continuation of HALO’s emergency response to emergency humanitarian needs, food and non-food items were distributed to 290 returnee families in the Nangarhar province- one of the leading decisions for returnees from Pakistan. These packages included blankets, rice, flour, sugar, and other food items.

Please consider donating to this project to support Afghan returning refugee families. We are grateful to all of our supporters helping Afghan families in need.

In 2019, Belandhawa was the site of a NATO base. Once the base was handed over to former Afghan forces, the conflict intensified, leaving the village with widespread explosive contamination. Since then, Salih, his family of 10, and the community have since been unable to freely use the land and roads to travel and work.

As a result, the people of Belandhawa have been forced to use contaminated roads to travel to the nearby city of Lashkargah. This travel on unsafe roads has led to an increase in IED-related accidents. Sadly, Salih’s family has suffered the consequences of one of these accidents. Salih said, “my son, Mir Allam, was traveling on a road when he was hit by an IED. He is still suffering from the injuries.”

In March 2023, HALO teams started operations to clear Belandhawa of IEDs and explosives. Once deterred by the dangers that IEDs posed to his life, Salih is now using the cleared land to farm. He now says, “I’ve planted wheat and cotton across my land.” He also highlighted that now, people can safely use the roads to travel, estimating about 200 families across Belandhawa who are living safer and more rewarding lives.

Thank you to all of our supporters making this work possible!