Afghanistan, between the economic crisis, the consequences of the war and the cold, thousands of people survive only with the aid of the UNHCR

ROME – Families on the brink of the abyss, one of the most serious economic and food crises in recent years, which overwhelms around 34 million people. Temperatures many degrees below zero: life in Afghanistan is getting harder and harder and for millions of people the only lifeline is aid from theHigh Commissioner for Refugees.

There have been people living in a cave for eight months. Fatima is a young woman who has been living with her children for eight months in a cave in the mountains of Bamiyan, a mountainous region where the Buddhas once stood, two sixth-century sculptures destroyed in 2001. The cave is small but offers shelter from the harsh winter temperatures. “We didn’t have a place to stay or the money to pay the rent,” Fatima told UNHCR. When the conflict between NATO and the Taliban escalated, she Fatima was forced to leave Bamiyan to move to another province a hundred kilometers away. Today she returned to Bamiyan where she is able to live only thanks to the aid provided by the UNHCR. Her cave-house has become more welcoming, thanks to some colored cushions and a carpet that Fatima received as a gift, but she remains an inhospitable place to live, especially in the summer, when she is filled with scorpions.

The decisions provoked by poverty. Before the interventionUNHCR, without an income and without the guarantee of regular assistance, Fatima had to give one of her children to her brother who lives in Iran. “At that time I was in a terrible condition. I couldn’t feed my children, who were also sick. I thought that giving my son to my brother was the right choice to make, the only possible one. But now, as a mother, I can’t explain how much I’m in pain. My son certainly has a better chance at life, but all of this pains me,” said the woman.

Living in Bamyan. Fatima is not the first and will not be the last woman in Bamiyan who is forced to make such painful decisions. People who live in this province, which is one of the highest and coldest in Afghanistan, are used to harsh winters. But this year the lowest temperatures in the last ten years were recorded and the frost hit above all the poorest and most vulnerable, like Fatima and her family.

The humanitarian crisis. Aid agencies predict that two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population, or 28.3 million people, will need assistance by 2023. Six million are already suffering the pangs of famine. With the economy in free fall, job losses and food prices skyrocketing, many families have had to go into debt to survive.

Debts to live on. Nekhbakhd, a thirty-year-old mother, borrowed just over six thousand dollars to pay for her father-in-law’s medical care in Kabul before he died. Nekhbakhd’s family received financial assistance from the UNHCR two months ago, thanks to which she bought food and bought coal and wood for heating. But now the money has run out, the debts remain, and the problem of how to buy food and wood has also returned. “I will never force my daughters to marry young, but we may have to think about sending them to work, even if they are very young,” Nekhbakhd said. “Now my girls collect animal manure to burn in the stove so we can stay warm. Sometimes we eat, but sometimes we have to skip meals and go hungry. We are fighting, this winter is colder than other winters”.

The program ofUNHCR in Afghanistan. It is cash-based and serves to help the most vulnerable families not only survive but also to avoid making painful decisions such as giving up a child, as Fatima had to do. Sara, a mother of five, was two months pregnant when her husband died a year and a half ago. She now she lives thanks to the help of the UNHCR. The support offered to her by the agency gave her the opportunity to buy a wood-burning stove that Sara also uses for cooking. “This stove allowed us to stay warm. If I hadn’t received help from the UNHCR everything would have been much more difficult. For me this money has been a lifeline”.