Two top United Nations officials urged Western nations to engage with Afghanistan to prevent the country from sliding back into instability that could have repercussions far beyond its borders. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
"The lesson of (the) recent past is that ignoring Afghanistan is not a good thing to do," the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday alongside the head of the United Nations Development Program, Alexander De Croo, during a joint visit to the country.
Although many challenges and difficulties remain, "it's wiser to engage, to support and promote the right type of policies to making sure that Afghanistan remains safe and secure," Salih said, speaking via video link. "Without it, I think we may well risk instability, with all the implications of that instability," whether that is drugs, extremism, criminal activity or the movement of refugees, he said.
After four decades of conflict, the impoverished, aid-dependent country is now buffeted by multiple crises, from natural disasters and climate change to the largest influx of returning refugees the world has seen in decades.
"In Afghanistan, there is never a crisis just on its own. It's always crisis on top of crisis," De Croo told the AP. "And that you see here."
Nearly 6 million people have returned to Afghanistan since 2023, the vast majority from neighboring Pakistan and Iran since those countries began a crackdown on migrants living there. Another roughly 2 million people are expected to return this year, the U.N. officials said.
The returnees have strained local communities, many of which already have scant resources in a country where poverty is rife and malnutrition stalks the most vulnerable.
This has been compounded by massive cuts in international aid and a Taliban government that has sidelined half of Afghanistan's population, denying women and girls education beyond primary school and banning them from the vast majority of jobs.
The country is also internationally isolated. No Western nation has formally recognized Afghanistan's government since the Taliban seized power in the wake of a chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops in August 2021. Russia was the first country to officially do so, in 2025.
Last month, a delegation from the Taliban government traveled to Brussels to meet European Union staff for talks on diplomatic services and the return of Afghans from European countries. The meeting symbolized a small crack in Afghanistan's diplomatic isolation.
Yet despite the significant challenges, Afghanistan requires international attention to maintain stability.