UAE hosted 17,600 Afghans before departure to their final destinations
This came as part of the UAE's co-operation with international partners to support the Afghan people amid the exceptional circumstances the country experienced.
Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Humanitarian City (EHC) welcomed the Afghan citizens and provided them with high-quality facilities and services before they departed to 21 final destinations. The total cost of hosting the refugees amounted to Dhs1.348 billion ($367 million).
An Afghan child gets treated at a health centre in UAE.
The UAE also facilitated the evacuation of 41,000 Afghans and foreign citizens who were residing in Afghanistan, out of its belief in the need to assist friendly countries that had requested the UAE's assistance in evacuating their respective citizens from Afghanistan, prior to their repatriation to their home countries.
During their stay, the UAE met all the needs of the Afghan citizens including healthcare, logistical and diplomatic services, communications, shelter and food, while ensuring their comfort, decent life and well-being and provided them with financial support to help families stabilize their lives in the destinations they were set to move to.
To facilitate their departure to their final destinations, services related to departure procedures were provided within the EHC. As many as 17 offices were opened for the embassies of the concerned countries in addition to one office for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, another for the United Nations Migration Agency, another for US Customs and Border Protection, and 2 offices for international non-governmental organizations.
As far as healthcare is concerned, the UAE exerted exceptional efforts to look after the Afghans and foreign citizens residing in the EHC, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.
Emirati officials give gifts to Afghan families at Emirates humanitarian city.
This included providing 34,923 vaccines to all the residents, taking exemplary care of 303 newborns, performing 303 surgeries in various specialties, treating three cases outside the UAE and rendering 254,572 medical services to the residents, thereby ensuring comprehensive healthcare throughout their temporary stay.
As for education and vocational training for Afghans residing in the city, the UAE provided school education for 3,764 Afghans and enrolled 800 children in nurseries, while providing school transportation and ongoing follow-up.
The concerned authorities also organized 39 cultural and educational training courses for EHC's residents as well as professional training and development workshops, benefiting 2,589 Afghans.
Emirati officials welcome Afghan families at a reception hall in Emirates humanitarian city.
Thanks to its privacy-conscious design and compliance with the highest standards of security and safety, the EHC offered the best daily services. Its outdoor spaces included a number of playgrounds and entertainment facilities for children, women, and the elderly, a preventive health centre, and all necessary means of subsistence, including medicine, food and other essentials for a residence that reflected the values and traditions of Emirati society.
The UAE spared no effort to assist the Afghan people and was at the forefront of countries taking the initiative to support Afghanistan, reflecting its humanitarian mission based on the values of giving, charitable work, spreading peace, and consolidating coexistence, tolerance, and the principles of human fraternity.
Caring for people and preserving their dignity has been a constant approach of the UAE since it was founded. Taking no ethnic, religious or geographic backgrounds into consideration, the UAE has been consistent with its noble humanitarian principles until it has become a global symbol of humanitarian giving and sustainable goodness.
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