Afghanistan currently has a humanitarian emergency, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Kelly Clements said in Geneva, according to the Afghan news agency Pajhwok. Afghanistan’s neighboring countries, which already hold more than 2.2 million Afghan refugees, might soon see a new influx, the source added.

A week ago, the UNHCR expressed concern about humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, which include half a million displaced people this year.

Almost two weeks after the rise to power of the Taliban insurgents, more than 110,000 people were evacuated from Kabul, although thousands more are waiting at the capital’s international airport to flee the country, as they fear the return of the strict Taliban regime.

The previous Taliban government, between 1996 and 2001, had an extreme fundamentalist approach that turned disastrous due to its abuses against women, girls, ethnic minorities and even education, and the country became then very isolated internationally. The UNHCR is concerned about the risk of human rights violations, particularly those of women and girls, and called on Afghanistan’s neighboring countries to keep their borders open in the context of the evolution of the crisis.

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