More Than 350,000 Afghans Displaced in 2019: UN Report

Overall, 354,664 people were displaced in 31 of the total of 34 provinces, OCHA reported. About 310,000 people were forced from their homes in the same period last year.
Most people who fled were in the northeast region with more than 160,000 people displaced, followed by the east with 68,000, the north with 60,000, and west with 29,900.
The displacements occurred as Afghan forces continue to battle the Taliban and the Islamic State -Khorasan (IS-K) group. Fighting surged this year during ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban about a political solution for the conflict.
The military is battling a Taliban insurgency while also fighting the extremist Islamic State (IS) group’s expansion in the north along with a series of attacks in the capital, Kabul.
Most people who have fled Afghanistan since 2012 went to neighbouring Iran. Out of 2.3 million Afghans in total who left the country, 63 per cent (1.4 million) went to Iran, 22 per cent to Pakistan (500,000) and only 12 per cent to Europe and Turkey (270,000). There is growing pressure on them to return.
Many returnees are reportedly living in extreme poverty and some returnees are now living in tents or in the open air. Based on reports, some other returnees are living with host families and relatives, while a number of others live in rented rooms, often in semi-ruined, abandoned houses.
At the same time, the country is currently waiting for delayed announcement of the Presidential election which sets for November 14.
But many Afghans complain that the political leaders are too detached from the issues facing them.
The tens of thousands of people in across the country certainly have a more pressing concern at hand – the impending arrival of the cold winter months.