BAMYAN CITY - An awareness campaign informing people about the dangers of illegal immigration was launched in central Bamyan province on Wednesday.
Ten percent of the Afghan migrants travelling to Europe are residents of Bamyan province. Around 250,000 Afghans have left for Europe in search of asylum during the past year.
Major reasons for Afghans leaving their country include insecurity, widespread poverty, joblessness, political instability and the government’s failure to address people’s problems.
Refugee and Repatriation Director Azizullah Aminyar voiced grave concern over large numbers of Bamyan residents opting for illegal immigration. He said 10 percent of the immigrants were residents of the province.
Poverty and joblessness were the main reasons for illegal immigration, he said, fearing the trend would create new challenges if the government did not control the situation.
International Organization for Migration (IOM), in cooperation with other institutes in Bamyan, launched the awareness campaign to inform people about the risks of illegal immigration.
The campaign was supported by around 100 local ulema and prayer leaders, who received training on discouraging people from illegal immigration.
One of the religious scholars, Maulvi Hamid Hussaini, believed such campaigns were ineffective in address the issue in the absence of concrete measures to ameliorate people’s lot.
He said the current uncertain situation in the country had forced people to go for immigration. “There are no job opportunities in the country; people have no option but to face risks while trying to achieve their goals,” he concluded. (Pajhwok)