Refugees’ mass return to destabilize situation in Afghanistan – UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Almaty. November 3. Silkroadnews – Refugees’ mass return will result in further destabilization of situation in Afghanistan, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees warns, AfTAG writes.

The report prepared jointly with the World Bank shows around 4.8 million refugees returned to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2015 with the former migrants making about 20% of the country’s population.

Though the strong majority of immigrants have returned to their homeland in the 2000-s, more and more refugees, both legal and illegal, are forced to return over the past few years. The largest number of migrants arrive from Pakistan, where the mass deportations of the Afghan population takes place.

As of September 7, 2016, 98 thousand of registered refugees and 135 illegal immigrants have returned to their homeland from Pakistan this year, another 400 thousand are expected to return before the end of the year.  

The officials of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees express their concerns with the military operations carried out within the country and inevitably leading to growing number of the internally displaced persons.

Tough security situation, coupled with the country’s economic problems does not allow the authorities to cope with the refugees’ flow and provide them with due living conditions and jobs.

The report authors urge the international community to undertake measures to make the return of migrants to their homeland voluntary and provide for the appropriate conditions to let this return to be carried out in due order.

The document stresses the need to help Iran and Pakistan upon the condition they are ready to grant asylum to Afghans and create conditions for temporary economic migration.