Written by: Jazmín Maldonado
Around the world, tens of millions of people have been forced to migrate and been displaced by conflict, natural disaster, or persecution, seeking for a place to refuge either within or beyond the borders of their country. According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is someone who:
“is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. (UNHCR, 2002).
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a sovereign state located in the Middle East, in Southern Asia. Most of the population lives under the poverty line and it extremely depends on agriculture (CIA, 2016).
Afghanistan’s history is very complex, this has been reflected in its present civilization, language and culture. Its population is of 34,124,811 people. Afghan culture is extremely influenced by the Muslim religion, although there is a huge variation of languages and ethnic groups, almost all Afghans follow Islamic rules and traditions.
The Afghan refugee crisis that has been affecting the country and their population for a long time. The situation in Afghanistan is part of one or more of the migratory movements that are taking place today around the globe. It is important to consider that the local actions carried out in one place, have consequences in the region to which they belong and in a global way. This explains why nowadays the refugee crisis in Europe is dominating global headlines. The main reason why people are fleeing from their countries of origin is because of war and conflict.
Forced migration does not only carries social implications, it also has a significant impact on the economic and political issues of countries affected and an impact in agendas of intergovernmental agencies and civil society groups. The region to which Afghanistan belongs, is a volatile region where migratory flows have had consequences that sometimes result in the tragic loss of human lives. It is essential to develop and understand the causes and consequences of migration to know how to deal effectively with its challenges. Addressing the causes of migration gives support for the management of programs to assist refugees and migrants.
Historically, mobility has been part of Afghanistan culture. For centuries, Afghans have been migrating to Iran and Pakistan. Nevertheless, it was until 1979 that the first wave of modern migration took place, this due to the soviet invasion. Pakistan and Iran were the main destination countries and the Iranian government welcomed the Afghan refugees by giving them “blue cards” which provided access to education, healthcare and food. The second wave of migration was during the Taliban regime in 1992. This time, migrators were not welcomed by Iranian and Pakistani governments. Between 1991 and 2000, over 300,000 Afghan refugees fled to Pakistan. (IOM, 2014). The third and most recent migration wave took place in 2001, during the war between the Taliban and United States forces caused by the terrorist’s attacks of 11 September 2001.
In this period was when the governments of Pakistan and Iran tried the most to expel Afghan refugees despite the terrible war conditions in their homeland. Both countries implemented policies such as increasing the price of living for Afghans, prohibiting Iranian employees to hire Afghan workers and closing refugee camps with thousands of Afghans on the borders.
The causes for forced migration in Afghanistan are very diverse, the main reasons are due to natural disasters and conflicts, but the trafficking of persons within Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan is also an important factor. In 2015, 12.96% of the total citizens of Afghanistan lived outside their homeland, this was a total of 4,843,117 outward migration. (IOM, 2015)
References
Central Intelligence Agency. (2017). Afghanistan. August 30, 2017, from CIA Website:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
International Organization for Migration Afghanistan. (2014). Afghanistan Migration Profile. August 31, from IOM Website: https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/mp_afghanistan_0.pdf
International Organization for Migration. (2015). Global Migration Flows. September 4, 2017, de IOM Sitio web: https://www.iom.int/world-migration
The UN Refugee Agency. (2016). Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees. September 4, 2017, from UNHCR Website:
van Houte, M., Siegel, M., and Davids, T. (2015) Return to Afghanistan: Migration as Reinforcement of Socio-Economic Stratification. Popul. Space Place, 21: 692–703. doi: 10.1002/psp.1876.
UNDP. (2016). Human Development 2016. Afghanistan. September 07, 2017, from United Nations Development Programme Website: http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/AFG.pdf
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