In 2016, hundreds of thousands of refugees living in Pakistan were forced to returned to Afghanistan, to communities already struggling with vast numbers of internally displaced people. Last winter, Afghanaid provided almost 2,000 families like Janat's (pictured below) with cash to support them through the colder months.

Janat moved to Pakistan when he was 10 and has lived there ever since. His children and grandchildren had never been to Afghanistan before last year, when the family of eleven was forced to swap their close-knit community of relatives for the unknown city of Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan.

Janat’s 6 month old granddaughter sadly died whilst they waited for hours in the sun to cross the border and the remaining children are among the thousands unable to access education since being uprooted.

Janat and his family spent the cash they received from Afghanaid on fuel for the fire to keep their family warm during the winter, as well as food and rent.

But their situation remains extremely challenging: “We still owe two month’s rent, which is our biggest problem. There are no jobs here for us. If the landlord says we can stay then we will; if not then we will live in a tent or some other place, we just don’t know.”

Find out more about our work with these returning refugees.