Half a million Afghans could flee across borders - UNHCR

FILE PHOTO: An internally displaced Afghan girl carries a child near their shelter at a camp on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan June 20, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

GENEVA (Reuters) -Up to half a million Afghans could flee their homeland by year-end, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday, appealing to all neighbouring countries to keep their borders open for those seeking safety.

As a crisis unfolds in the country, a few thousand Afghans have been recorded as entering Iran daily, while traders continue going back and forth from Afghanistan to Pakistan, said Kelly Clements, deputy U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.