The UK Government is being urged to provide help to desperate Afghans, who are selling their children to buy food because they are so hungry.
Charities have called on Boris Johnson’s administration to provide more money, stressing that people will die unless action is taken now on the humanitarian emergency.
Residents of the disaster-torn country have faced grinding poverty in the brutal winter, after the economy collapsed following the Taliban’s takeover.
People have also been selling their organs to buy food.
Organisations including Save the Children UK, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Concern Worldwide have written an open letter to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, telling her that the window to save lives is ‘closing fast’.
They said that the £286 million of UK aid announced so far is not enough, highlighting that it is equivalent to just £7.15 for each of the 40 million people at risk in Afghanistan.
Those who signed the letter warned Ms Truss that ‘there isn’t a moment to lose’.
They wrote: ‘Five million Afghan children are on the brink of famine. Every day, more people are succumbing to illness and starvation.
‘With 98% of families not having enough to eat, some are resorting to desperate coping strategies – even selling their children.’
It continued: ‘Our staff and partners on the ground report suffering on a scale that most of us cannot comprehend.
‘The window to save millions of lives is closing fast. The UN has launched its largest ever single country appeal – 4.4 billion dollars – and needs wealthy countries like the UK to step up now.’
It comes after a botched retreat from the Taliban which led to a dramatic evacuation of Kabul in which Britain left thousands behind despite a huge effort to get people out of the country.
‘As well as supporting the emergency response, (Foreign Office) must also prioritise international efforts to ensure essential public services are restored and to keep the Afghan state and economy from collapsing.’
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