More than half a million Afghans have been internally displaced by conflict so far this year, the highest number on record, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Afghanistan announced in a report on Wednesday.
As of 30 November, 515,815 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been recorded as newly displaced in Afghanistan in 2016.
This surpasses last year's record of approximately 471,000 IDPs, and is around 15 percent higher than the same time last year, according to the report.
More than 1.3 million Afghans have been internally displaced by conflict in the past five years, with severe humanitarian impact. As the conflict continues, increasing numbers of Afghans need humanitarian assistance, at the same time the humanitarian community are facing greater challenges in safely accessing vulnerable families, it said.
"When forced to leave their homes because of conflict, Afghan families face enormous challenges. They often lose their homes and livelihoods. It is not uncommon for displaced people to live in tents, and to be unable to feed their children or send them to school," said Dominic Parker, Head of Office for UNOCHA in Afghanistan.
The record numbers continue a worrying trend of year-on-year increases of conflict-induced IDPs and a growing number living in prolonged displacement. This year, internal displacement is four times more than that recorded in 2013, and more than double that in 2014. More of Afghanistan is also affected, with a record 198 out of 399 districts reporting conflict-induced displacement so far this year, and for the first time, all 34 provinces are now hosting IDPs.
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