Tag: Border

Venezuela: Displacement & Food Needs

August 16, 2026     Venezuela has had the largest number of refugees fleeing from it, and now is a focus of humanitarian aid following the large June earthquakes that killed between 6,000 and 18,000 citizens.…

Prior to those earthquakes, the U.S. Famine Early Warning System projected some 1.8 million people in need of food assistance.  UNICEF (as U.N. Nutrition Cluster lead) reports that 11% of children under five nationwide are affected by wasting, but the burden is heavily skewed toward marginalized, indigenous, and remote communities where healthcare coverage is minimal and WASH conditions are critical. The cluster’s 2025 response covered 79 municipalities across 23 states.  The Wayuu and Afiú communities in Alta Guajira and the Sinamaica Lagoon face some of the most severe deprivations.  The Amazon and Delta regions also have high rates of malnutrition, particularly among the Yanomami indigenous community.
…
The two large earthquakes that hit northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026 created immediate dislocations with an estimated 3.3 million persons in need of food assistance.  This represents the single largest, and by far the best-counted, displacement event in modern Venezuelan history.  Of those affected, 5,804 children and their caregivers have received nutrition services according to UNICEF.  Hardest hit were La Guaira, Caracas and Yaracuy.  An estimated 18,000 people remain homeless from these recent earthquakes. …
…
Venezuela continues to have high inflation with low purchasing power for its citizens, which is one reason 7 and 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country to exile.   Six years ago Venezuela’s internally displaced people were in the west, on the Colombian border, and the international system was building out to reach them. Today the largest counted caseload sits at the opposite end of the country around the earthquake.  Around 2.8 million refugees still live in neighboring Colombia.
…
The U.N. World Food Program has provided food to 120,000 people, including hot meals in shelters, ready-to-eat rations for displaced families, food baskets for households that can still cook, and prepaid electronic vouchers in areas where markets function.  The U.S. government has been one contributor, channeling support through WFP as part of a broader $386 million earthquake response package.
…
Venezuela has been a crisis for many years because of an autocratic dictatorship. Recent regime change did not open space for anti-hunger aid groups. A state of exception decree, a still-paralyzed NGO registration regime, OHCHR still expelled, and  dozens of aggressive actions against aid actors have limited aid in the period since the earthquake.   Most of the constraints that made humanitarian work in Venezuela difficult in recent years were structural, e.g., the denial of a crisis, the NGO registration regime, hostility to independent monitoring, the security services’ instinct to control assistance. Removing the dictator Maduro did not resolve any of those. In recent weeks there have been dozens of documented incidents against humanitarian aid agencies, including closures of civilian aid collection points, three arbitrary detentions, eight press-freedom violations. Problems include:  Entry permits revoked for German and Austrian emergency medical teams; a Chilean rescue brigade accused of espionage; intelligence officers reported present inside shelters and at aid collection points.

One US nonprofit, International Medical Corps (IMC), has worked in Venezuela since 2019. Since then, the team has reached more than 3.7 million people in 10 states, supported more than 120 health centers, and distributed medications, medical supplies and equipment valued at nearly $2 million.  In addition to building up health systems, IMC manages acute malnutrition, conducts nutritional screening for early identification of acute malnutrition, and promotes infant and young-child feeding practices, integrated into health programming in remote areas of Bolívar and Delta Amacuro states, where referral services for conditions caused by acute malnutrition are otherwise unavailable. Immediately following the earthquakes on June 24, IMC’s in-country team mobilized emergency medical relief to the hard-hit region of La Guaira, including a field hospital, mobile medical units, water trucks and hygiene kits for displaced families.

Another nonprofit, Caritas Venezuela, is one of the country’s largest and most trusted humanitarian organizations, with a nationwide structure. Its broad diocesan and parish networks and permanent presence in communities across the country are why it is often among the first to respond when disaster strikes.  This extensive network enables U.S. Catholic Relief Services and Caritas to work closely with parish priests, lay leaders, health facilities, schools and community organizations to reach vulnerable families in informal urban settlements, remote rural areas and Indigenous territories where humanitarian coverage is often limited. With warehouses, transport authorization and a permanent presence even in hard-to-reach areas, Caritas Venezuela is deeply embedded in communities across the country.

Caritas is now shifting from immediate earthquake assistance toward recovery for those who lost everything, while continuing to maintain field operations, particularly in the coastal city of La Guaira, where the destruction is greatest.  Caritas Venezuela reports that it has received over 19,000 tons of aid and distributed approximately 16,000 tons. The scale of the volunteer mobilization is notable: around 10,000 people — teachers, young people, mothers, retirees and neighbors, joined volunteer efforts across all of Venezuela’s dioceses and parishes.

– Contributed by World Hunger Education Service Board member, Steven Hansch

 

Increased Hunger and Conflict in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is currently facing a severe food insecurity crisis driven by several compounding factors. According to the UNHCR,  in 2025, both Pakistan and Iran tightened their migration policies, forcing large numbers of Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan.

The Pakistan–Afghanistan border has become a combat zone, and Pakistan has conducted airstrikes inside Afghanistan along with ground operations, displacing 66,000 Afghan civilians.  As of mid-March, armed clashes continue in several Afghan provinces (Khost, Paktia, Paktika, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kandahar), with both sides reporting heavy losses. Pakistan claims to have destroyed militant infrastructure, while Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of targeting civilians and civilian areas.

An estimated 2.7 million Afghan refugees were forced back to Afghanistan in 2025 from Pakistan and Iran, straining Afghan public services. Pakistan has also closed the border and suspended trade, a devastating blow to the landlocked Afghan economy.  Many of these returnees are struggling to reintegrate due to limited employment opportunities and the lack of basic services such as food, clothing, and shelter. In addition, many refugees sold their homes when they fled Afghanistan and are now returning with no place to live.

Making things worse, major border crossings have been closed since late 2025 due to the conflict with Pakistan, interrupting food trade.  Compounded by its war with the U.S., Iran (Afghanistan’s western neighbor) has halted exports to Afghanistan of some food products, worsening Afghan food shortages and raising prices.   As a result, Afghanistan is shifting toward northern suppliers.

Kazakhstan nearly doubled grain exports to Afghanistan between late 2025 and early 2026.  Afghanistan cannot produce enough staple food domestically.  For example, wheat consumption for its population of 45 million is roughly 6.8 million metric tons per year, whereas domestic wheat production is about 4.8 million tons, with the shortfall made up through imports from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia.

The influx of returning refugees is placing additional strain on already scarce resources. At the same time, Afghanistan is experiencing a severe water shortage caused by a drought that has persisted for more than four years. The FAO estimates that snowfall during the 2025–2026 winter is at a 25-year low, significantly affecting agriculture and livestock production. As a result, it is estimated that roughly half of Afghanistan’s population is facing severe food insecurity and poverty.

The prevalence of malnutrition has increased over the last year, reaching record highs.  Acute malnutrition for children under five increased by approximately 7% compared to early 2025. In 2026, an estimated 3.7 to 4 million children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition, with nearly 1 million of those facing Severe Acute Malnutrition.  Approximately 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are also expected to be acutely malnourished this year.

Afghanistan’s per capita GDP is estimated at about $400 per year and has declined by 20% from a few years ago.  By this measure, the Afghan people are the poorest in Asia.  The chart at right compares the prevalence of undernutrition in Afghanistan to some of its neighboring countries.

Children are still being measured to identify malnutrition, but the system is under immense strain.  Families stopped taking children to health centers as they knew that supplies of recovery foods would not be available.  Many children are “dying silently at home” because families cannot afford the transport to clinics, or facilities have closed due to earthquake damage and lack of staff funding.

The departure of U.S. troops in August 2021 and the subsequent 2025 cessation of all USAID aid to Afghanistan fundamentally broke the primary supply and distribution model.  Last winter, the WFP provided aid for 6 million people but have cut that back to only 1 to 2 million people.

In addition to UNICEF and WFP, nonprofits who are responding to hunger in Afghanistan are:  Action Against Hunger (ACF), Concern Worldwide, CARE, Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Islamic Relief Worldwide, MSF, and World Vision.

The war is being fought over Pakistan’s demand for Afghanistan to eliminate militant safe havens and Afghanistan’s refusal to comply, compounded by historical grievances and border disputes. Pakistan is accusing Afghan forces of drone attacks on its civilians.  The human cost is mounting daily, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence and displacement.  The Durand Line, the contested border between the two countries, has long been a flashpoint. Both sides accuse each other of violating sovereignty and supporting insurgent activities across the border.  Recently, China publicly urged both sides to hold face-to-face talks and seek a ceasefire. Turkey has also offered to promote a ceasefire.

Update:   As of March 16, Al Jazeera reports that Afghanistan accused Pakistan’s military of launching an airstrike on Kabul’s Omar Addiction Treatment Hospital, a 2,000-bed facility, killing at least 400 people.  Pakistan dismissed the claim as “false and aimed at misleading public opinion,” saying it only targeted military installations.  The attack entered its third week of the deadliest fighting between the two countries in years.

Humanitarian Impact:  Nearly 66,000 people were displaced in Afghanistan as of early March, with the UN’s International Organization for Migration warning of the “growing humanitarian impact on civilians.”  Schools and markets in several border districts remain closed, mortar fire has forced families to flee villages in northwest Pakistan, and aid operations in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been temporarily suspended.

For further learning:

https://fews.net/middle-east-and-asia/afghanistan?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/afghanistanpakistan-conflict-update-situation-report-1-march-10-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.fao.org/emergencies/where-we-work/AFG/en?utm_source=chatgpt.com