UN refugee chief calls for action to prevent Afghan ‘implosion’

Islamabad, Pakistan – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called on countries worldwide to engage with the Taliban’s interim government in Afghanistan or risk a “humanitarian crisis” resulting from the collapse of the state.

His comments in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Friday followed a visit to Afghanistan this week and two days of talks with Pakistani leaders.

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Local authorities to receive funding to support the resettlement of Afghan families

Source: GOV.UK

Councils who support people through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme will receive £20,520 per person, over 3 years, for resettlement and integration costs. This is based on the previous Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, but over 3 rather than 5 years, with more money provided in the crucial early period to help people settle and become part of their new communities.

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Donors pledge $1.2 billion in emergency funds for Afghans

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations drummed up more than $1.2 billion in emergency pledges Monday for helping 11 million Afghans facing an escalating humanitarian crisis in their homeland and millions more elsewhere in the region as the U.N. human rights chief voiced concerns about the Taliban’s first steps in establishing power in the beleaguered and impoverished country.

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Taliban’s return ‘a catastrophe’ for journalism in Afghanistan

Journalism in Afghanistan is in danger of disappearing, according to the head of the International Federation of Journalists, who said that reporters trying to continue working under the Taliban have been subjected to beatings and imprisonment.

“The Taliban don’t want to make too many waves right now, but they will want to take control of everything, including the foreign press in Afghanistan,” Anthony Bellanger, the IFJ secretary general, told the Guardian. “And as often happens in such situations, foreign journalists will be considered agents of foreign governments.

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First group of Afghan evacuees arrives in Japan

CHIBA, Japan (Kyodo) — Several Afghan evacuees arrived at Narita airport near Tokyo on Sunday night, the first confirmed group of people from Afghanistan to take refuge in Japan following the Taliban’s return to power in mid-August.

The evacuees were among around 10 Afghans who entered neighboring Pakistan by land last week. The four were a local worker of the Japan International Cooperation Agency in Afghanistan and family members, according to a person familiar with the matter.

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Afghanistan media struggle to chart path through Taliban upheaval

Madina Morwat was among scores of Afghan journalists who lost their jobs when dozens of television and radio stations suspended programming after the Taliban captured Kabul last month.

But the 23-year old reporter quickly resumed her career after taking a job at Tolo News, part of Afghanistan’s largest media company Moby Group and a channel that has come to symbolise the rise of liberal media in Afghanistan since the Taliban were first ousted from power following the US-led invasion in 2001. “Many embassies asked if I wanted to leave Afghanistan, but I am committed to work for women and my country,” she said.

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