UN Agency Urges Afghanistan’s Neighbors To Open Borders, Even To Undocumented

The United Nations refugee agency is urging Afghanistan’s neighbors to open their borders to Afghans seeking to flee their war-torn country — even if they don’t have documentation.

Afghanistan’s land borders with Pakistan and Iran are currently open “almost solely” to Afghans with the required passports and visas, while the borders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are “closed entirely” to them, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on December 1.

The UNHCR “is profoundly concerned by escalating risks faced by Afghans seeking to flee” into neighboring states as the situation within their country “continues to deteriorate” following the takeover in August by Taliban