Integrity Score 380
No Records Found
Good read.
Must read
The Challenges of Nation Building in Afghanistan continues...
The post-September 11, 2001, events have changed the Afghan
situation to a great extent. The expulsion of the Taleban and the
establishment of a central government and efforts towards reconstruction
have made possible the largest voluntary repatriation or return of refugees
in decades. Before 9/11, about 3.5 million Afghan refugees were living in
the neighbouring countries of Iran and Pakistan, and many others in
Central Asian states, India as well as in Europe and North America.
Around 3 million refugees have been repatriated to Afghanistan since the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR)—assisted repatriation operation began in March 2002 Several thousand Afghan refugees also returned—some spontaneously, others with UNHCR help from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Under this programme, UNHCR provides returning
refugees with a travel grant, food and some non-food items to help them
re-establish in Afghanistan. Some reports of improvement of living
conditions in villages and towns leading to vacating of the refugee camps
51 like Zari Dasht near Kandahar are filtering out.
Although there was significant repatriation in the couple of years
following the fall of the Taleban the scene was not pleasant for the Afghan
asylum seekers abroad. The governments who tightened immigration
controls all over the world concluded that Afghans could safely return
home and hence were denied entry. Many returning refugees reportedly
returned to find their homes, villages and farmlands destroyed by war.
During the year 2002, the international community failed to deliver
adequate security and reconstruction assistance, both essential for full and
52 sustainable refugee repatriation. Those Afghans staying abroad were
ambivalent about returning. At the end of 2002, around 700,000
Afghans remained internally displaced throughout the country, although
the UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and
other agencies helped organise the return of more than 250,000 Afghan
IDPs to their home areas. An additional 200,000 internally displaced
Afghans returned home on their own.
To be continued....