Internally displaced persons (IDPs) to be sent back to their home provinces are pictured in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 24, 2022. A total of 272 IDPs were sent back to their home provinces from the capital Kabul on Sunday, Deputy Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Arsala Kharoti of the Afghan caretaker government said. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
KABUL, July 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 272 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were sent back to their home provinces from the capital Kabul on Sunday, Deputy Minister for Refugees and Repatriation Affairs Arsala Kharoti of the Afghan caretaker government said.
With the help provided under a coordinated program by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office and the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Affairs, the IDPs were sent back to their homes in Ghazni, Bamyan, Daikundi and Wardak provinces.
Each family was offered up to 200 U.S. dollars by the UNHCR for returning to their homes, according to the deputy minister.
"We are happy to return to our province as we see good security countrywide," Siddiqe, head of a five-member family from central Daikundi province told Xinhua.
Siddiqe left his hometown a few years ago to avoid conflicts there and had lived in a rental house for one year in Kabul. He said he is going home and resume working in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Mohammad Nasim, the breadwinner of a seven-member family, left his hometown two years ago. "In the past, it was war and insecurity in our province Ghazni. This was why we moved to Kabul, but here, we faced harsh economic problems," he said.
According to officials with the ministry for refugees and repatriation affairs, those returning their homes would get help from local aid agencies.
Up to 6,000 displaced families residing in Kabul have been reportedly sent back to their home provinces in recent months. ■