KABUL - The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on Thursday said migration from the country was not a solution, insisting the government was working to pave the way for the return of Afghan refugees from foreign countries.
While talking to a ceremony in connection with International Migrant Day at his palace, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said Afghanistan was among countries that had most migrants and internally displaced people.
He called migrant crisis, people displaced by war, insecurity, poverty, joblessness, drug addiction and cultivation of poppy as serious challenges, saying meeting the needs of migrants and solving their problems in any corner of the world was a primary responsibility of the government.
“We make ourselves responsible to respond to problems, requests and provide rights and pave the ground for dignified and gradual return of our refugees as well as pay attention to their permanent residence here… unfortunately a large number of our people are also displaced due to insecurity and natural disasters and they are struggling with hardships,” he said.
Abdullah said the government was committed to continuing its assistance with those affected by the war and natural incidents.
Despite latency in responding to migrants’ problems, fundamental works in this have been done in recent past but those efforts were not enough compared to the high number of migrants and troubles they faced, he said.
Sayed Hussain Alami Balkhi, refugees and repatriation minister, said more than three million Afghan migrants and refugees returned to Afghanistan over the last four years. However, he said his ministry had been unable to achieve its goals due to security problems in the country.
He said more than 6.5 million Afghan refugees were living abroad and the country’s situation was not suitable for their return due to high security threats here.
Balkhi said 3.2 million Afghan migrants returned to the country between 2012 and 2018 while 2.2 million others left the country. In 2018, more than 867,000 Afghan refugees were deported or returned voluntary to their country, he added.
“During the ongoing year, more than 11,000 Afghan migrants returned from foreign countries, 2,911 of them returned from Iran and Pakistan, 592 from Europe and 428 from other countries,7,860 refugees returned from Iran and Pakistan based on a program by UNHCR this year,” he said. (Pajhwok)