Thousands of Afghans are trying to cross the border into Iran and Pakistan each day, in an intensified migration scramble that is stoking fears in Europe, New York Times reports.
Since the U.S. withdrew troops and the Taliban seized power, Afghanistan has plunged into an economic crisis that has pushed millions already living hand-to-mouth over the edge. Incomes have vanished, more than half the population faces life-threatening hunger, and badly needed aid has been stymied by Western sanctions against Taliban officials.
The exodus has raised alarms across the region and in Europe, where politicians fear a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis. Determined to contain migrants in the region, the E.U. last fall pledged over $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and neighboring countries hosting Afghans who have fled.
Foreign aid: “We need new agreements and commitments in place to be able to assist and help an extremely vulnerable civil population,” Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian prime minister, said last month. But Western donors are still wrestling with complicated questions over how to help ordinary Afghans without propping up the new Taliban government.
Migrant crises: Twelve migrants froze to death in Turkey, a Turkish minister said, accusing Greek guards of stripping them and forcing them back across the border. And in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 60 people were killed after militants attacked a makeshift camp housing displaced people.