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Challenges to Returnees in Afghanistan: A Post-2014 Analysis

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Internal Migration Within South Asia

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Abstract

This chapter explores the effectiveness of the Afghan Government’s policy framework for the returnees primarily based on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Development Programme initiative towards re-integration and capacity-building for the nation. It explores the pros and cons of the policies adopted by the Afghan Government in conjunction with these international bodies towards the people returning mainly from Pakistan and Iran since 2014. The situation presents a complex scenario of engagement on the issues of deportation and containment of forceful returns of the Afghans staying in those countries. The overarching objective of the Afghan Government is to help promote repatriation and sustainable re-integration with the host communities in their places of origin. The Afghanistan National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF) is giving much importance to well-planned and managed settlement as sine qua non for re-integration. In this light, the chapter concludes that, first, re-integration still remains a difficult proposition. Second, the Afghan Government continues its efforts to assimilate them into the social and economic fabric of the country.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Nearly 3 million Afghans have returned since 2002, while an estimated over 2 million remain in Pakistan. The lack of shelter, employment and basic facilities back home are so grave as to make them nonchalant about returning. Presently, an overwhelming number of refugees in Pakistan are Pashtuns and they live outside the refugee camps.

  2. 2.

    The 25th Tripartite Commission in Islamabad agreed that, though the full and effective reintegration will be a gradual and challenging endeavour, linked to Afghanistan’s absorption capacity yet, concrete measures can be taken to support this process, including by empowering returnees at an individual level by strengthening their self-reliance and coping mechanisms upon return.

  3. 3.

    Undocumented returnees are understood here as those who were not registered as refugees in Iran, which means they do not have the official refugee status and the protection it entails under international law as stated in the OXFAM Report.

  4. 4.

    Here home means the country of one’s birth or origin.

  5. 5.

    It aims toward the development of a participatory process to enhance the scope of the returnees in the place of origin in the domain of employment and other basic necessities to lead a life.

  6. 6.

    It was developed as an inter-agency approach with the Government, the United Nations and NGOs commonly agreeing on a standardised tool to measure integration levels of returnees in Afghanistan. The rationale of the index depends on the assumption that the returnees are indistinguishably integrated with the local host community. The indicators are basically taken from socio-economic and security dimensions. For detail see: https://www.oecd.org/migration/forum-migration-statistics/4.Stefanie-Barratt.pdf.

  7. 7.

    There are a number of determinants assessing those who migrate. Among those integrating possibilities, availability of work, state infrastructure, familial ambience and ties within the community are vital indicators. International Organization for Migration has the Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF) which monitors how the mass is compelled to move out from their country of origin and tries to give them legal protection.

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  1. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

    Arnab Dutta

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  1. Arnab Dutta
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  1. Department of Economics, Behala College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Ujjaini Mukhopadhyay

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Dutta, A. (2022). Challenges to Returnees in Afghanistan: A Post-2014 Analysis. In: Mukhopadhyay, U. (eds) Internal Migration Within South Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6144-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6144-0_7

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