KANDAHAR — As millions around the world observed Eid al-Adha with feasts, new clothes, and family gatherings, thousands of returnees in southern Kandahar marked the holiday in makeshift camps, grappling with severe poverty and displacement.
Forced back into Afghanistan under Pakistan’s ongoing deportation campaign, many families now live in tents and improvised shelters, unable to afford basic food or clothing — let alone celebrate one of Islam’s most important holidays.
“None of my children have clothes or shoes for Eid,” said Malalai, a mother of five, who was deported from Pakistan and now resides in a camp on the outskirts of Kandahar. “I have four daughters and two sons. Not a single one has anything to wear.”
She, like many others in the camp, said they had received little to no assistance since returning. Some families reported going days without bread. Others described their children falling ill without access to medicine or doctors.
“We are all sick, and so are the children,” said Sepajmai, another resident. “There is no food, no clothes — not even bread.”
One mother, Sahra, pointed to her young child, who she said was suffering from measles. “We have nothing,” she said. “I couldn’t even buy clothes for my family this Eid.”
Conditions in the camps remain dire. Residents cite a lack of access to clean water, medical care, and sanitation. Humanitarian organizations have warned of worsening conditions across Afghanistan, particularly for the hundreds of thousands of people recently returned from abroad.
The United Nations estimates that more than a million Afghans have been forced back from Pakistan since the deportation drive began late last year. Many have arrived to find no housing, employment, or support waiting for them.
For families like Malalai’s, the hardship is now deeply personal.
“In this poverty,” she said, “Eid doesn’t feel like Eid anymore.”
