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Poor Afghans who were deported to Pakistan are hit by a new wave of earthquakes

Nazar Shah, who was deported from Pakistan last June, was trying to rebuild his life when a nighttime earthquake struck. Six of his relatives died, his stepmother was injured, and his stone-and mud house was destroyed.

The 40-year old Shah and 20 family members sleep under a tarpaulin by a river in the path of potential floods and feel daily aftershocks.

Shah, a Masud farmer in Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, said, "We lost our shelter." Pots, bedding, and a few wheat bags were stacked outside on wooden beds.

Since midnight on Sunday, two earthquakes have struck the war-ravaged country of the Taliban, killing more than 2,200, injuring over 3,600 and destroying thousands of homes.

Rescue and relief have been made difficult by a lack of resources, the decline of foreign aid after the Taliban took over in 2021, and the slow and meager help from the rest.

Shah, an Afghan deported this year from Pakistan and Iran, is one of the hundreds of thousands who have suffered a particularly severe blow.

Pakistan has expelled thousands of Afghans under its new laws. These Afghans had fled to Pakistan in the 1980s from war and poverty back home.

Plan for the Repatriation of Illegal Foreigners

Launched in 2023

Shah claimed that he worked security guard shifts in Pakistan for two years with his brothers to pay rent and bills. Deportation forced him back to Masud where his extended family was packed into three small rooms.

When Shah spoke with him on Thursday, he said that "life there wasn't too bad." Even if we were forced to buy food on credit and eat less, we still managed.

He rushed to get his children, livestock and himself out of the house when the earthquake struck. But he forgot about his mother.

He said, "When I realized, she'd already made some distance. But then, a rock from the mountain fell and hit her leg." It was pitch black. "You couldn't even see your hands."

DOUBLE CRISIS

Aid groups claim that it has taken a long time to provide relief for victims like Shah and his family, as mountain roads have been blocked by landslides and money is scarce.

The crisis is exacerbated by the return to Afghanistan of Afghans who were expelled from Iran or Pakistan. They are flooding back into border regions such as Kunar, with very little else.

Deportations and natural disasters are straining an already fragile aid effort.

Hazrat Gul, a 30-year-old doctor who volunteered to help the family of Shah finally arrived with bandages and medications from his own pharmacy. Rad Bibi's wound had been left untreated for 4 days.

The doctor who had rushed to the area from Nangarhar after burying his six relatives, said "These people still suffer." If it rains hard, God knows what's going to happen. Tents are not able to withstand storms."

Jamal Naser (43), a driver, suffered a similar fate.

He was in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, when the earthquakes struck. He hurried home to Masud, leaving behind his family, but found his house in ruin. He said that he was lost, having already received a notice of deportation from Pakistani authorities.

"With winter fast approaching, what will I do?" he asked. Reporting by Mohammed Yunus Yawar, Jalalabad; and Sayed Hassib, Mazar Dara. Writing by Ariba Shehid. Editing by YPrajesh and Mark Heinrich.

(source: Reuters)