Officials of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation say nearly one million Afghan refugees have returned the country in the past one year. According to the ministry’s officials, millions of Afghans are still living in neighboring countries.
“There are still 7 million Afghan refugees living in neighboring and other countries of the world,” said Mufti Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, head of public affairs of the ministry of refugees and repatriation.
He added that from among 7 million Afghan refugees 3 million Afghans were living in Pakistan, 3 million in Iran and one million were living as refugees in other countries of the world.
Haqqani further said that the leadership of the ministry of refugees and repatriation have held several meetings with representatives and ambassadors of Pakistan and Iran, adding that problems of Afghan refugees have been shared with the countries’ authorities.
“The meeting with representatives and relevant organs in neighboring countries have been positive as a range of facilities particularly in education and health sections have been provided for Afghan refugees. Besides, the refugees’ cards have been extended to Afghan refugees,” Haqqani said.
Pointing to returning process of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries, Haqqani said that over 10,000 Afghans including those deported from Iran and Turkiye have returned their home country in the past one week.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation is working to somehow convince the host countries to stop series of forced deportation of Afghan refugees and let the Afghans themselves to voluntarily return to their country.
Head of public affairs by pointing to internally displaced people said that over 3 million internally displaced people have been displaced due to past years’ conflicts and drought.
According to the ministry of refugees and repatriation, nearly 80,000 internally displaced people have returned their home areas and the IEA has provided them with food and non-food items.
It is worth mentioning that the ministry of refugees and repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are making effort to jointly work to solve the problems of Afghan refugees living in Iran and Pakistan.
Samiullah Momand
1 million Afghan refugees returned home in past one year
