Health officials say 19 baby girls have been born in makeshift camps of Afghan returnees in the past month, raising concerns for the conditions they face.
Nangarhar Public Health Department spokesperson Naqibullah Rahimi told Rukhshana Media that sanitary rooms have been established for women to give birth by the Taliban’s Ministry of Health in cooperation with aid organizations.
Mothers are being supported during childbirth by doctors and obstetricians in this region, he said Thursday.
He added that free health services have been provided to 62,138 people in the camps with the patients including men, women, and children.
The deportees are being provided with free services in various fields, including maternal and child health, infectious and viral diseases, diarrhea, measles, malaria, mental health, nutrition, vaccination, and other fields.
Last month Pakistan ordered 1.7 million Afghan refugees to leave the country by November. Many who are being expelled have nowhere in Afghanistan to go as they have not lived there for decades or in some cases never lived there.
The makeshift camps are just inside Afghanistan near the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan.
A recent report from UN Women says that 80 percent of the deportees are women and children, who are more vulnerable.
