Ensuring the Rights, Return, and Protection of Afghan Migrants

Message on World Refugee Day 2016

Keypoints: 

• Protection of Migrants’ Rights: Ensuring legal rights and access to services.
• Voluntary Return and Reintegration: Facilitating safe and organized return home.
• Support for IDPs: Providing aid and shelter for displaced families.
• International Cooperation: Working with neighbors and global partners.
• Justice and Property Restoration: Restoring land and housing to returnees.
• Education and Skills Development: Guaranteeing schooling and skill-building.
• National Responsibility and Unity: Making Afghanistan safe and welcoming for all.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The 20th of June, World Refugee Day, holds special significance for the government and people of Afghanistan, as Afghanistan is a country where millions of its citizens have migrated across the globe. Although six million of our refugees have returned to their homeland over the past fifteen years—most of whom have resumed successful lives—millions more still reside in other countries.

Internal Displacement and National Objectives

Our entire effort must be to ensure that no one in Afghanistan is forced to leave their home and village. Currently, we also have hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Afghanistan who have been rendered homeless and distressed by oppression and war. Emergency aid is being provided to the families of IDPs by national and international organizations. The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, within its "hundred-day plan," intends to conduct a detailed study of internally displaced persons so that, based on accurate surveys and research, we can consider ways for these individuals to return to their original villages and homes. Reaching displaced families with aid and eliminating the factors that forced them to leave their homes are our primary goals.

Regional Relations and Neighboring Host Countries

More than ninety-five percent of Afghan refugees reside in our two neighboring countries, Iran and Pakistan. I thank the people and governments of both countries for welcoming millions of our compatriots into their lands. I also thank the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and humanitarian organizations that have supported our refugees and assisted them during the most difficult conditions.

Bilateral Cooperation with Iran

During my last trip to the Islamic Republic of Iran, both sides agreed to establish a joint committee to oversee refugee affairs. This committee will work on the problems of Afghan refugees in Iran. I thank the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran for issuing the decree allowing Afghan refugee children the right to enter schools in that country. Regarding the voluntary return of refugees, the extension of residency periods, and obtaining work permits, we are in contact with the Iranian side to reach necessary agreements.

Bilateral Cooperation with Pakistan

We also thank the Pakistani authorities for agreeing to register those refugees who are currently undocumented and whose lack of documentation could cause them problems. The registration of undocumented refugees in Pakistan will begin during the current month. It is worth noting that the residency period for Afghan refugees in Pakistan expires at the end of this calendar year. We hope that, considering the specific conditions of Afghanistan, the government of Pakistan will take steps to extend this period.

Challenges for Returnees and Land Rights

Although most returning refugees in recent years have started successful and happy lives in their country—and many of the nation’s current politicians, specialists, and entrepreneurs are the very individuals who lived for years as refugees abroad—some returnees still live in unfair conditions. Others have seized their homes and properties, and their rights have been trampled. Likewise, a number of townships (settlements) intended for returning citizens are either uninhabitable due to a lack of necessary facilities or have had their lands seized by powerful individuals; we must put an end to this situation.

Governance and Structural Reform

Due to the importance of the refugee issue for the Afghan government, the High Council of Ministers decided two months ago to establish the High Commission for Migration. I will personally chair this commission, and through the participation of all stakeholders, I want to address the problems of both refugees and internally displaced persons.

Afghans in Gulf Countries and Consular Protection

More than half a million Afghans live in the Arab countries of the Gulf. In Saudi Arabia, about three hundred thousand Afghans face documentation issues. The Saudi government has agreed to allow us to issue Afghan passports to these compatriots. Furthermore, we are working to improve the working conditions of our citizens in Gulf countries. We intend to increase the capacity and authority of our consulates in host countries to reduce the problems of these citizens. Defending the rights of Afghan citizens in other countries is a fundamental obligation of the state. Refugees possess certain rights recognized by the world. Our total effort will be to ensure our refugees enjoy their legitimate rights and that environments are created where their children can receive an education and gain skills.

Western Nations and Deportation Policy

It is also worth mentioning that thousands of Afghans reside as refugees in Europe, Australia, Canada, the United States, and other countries, benefiting from their hospitality and services. However, recently, a number of Afghan asylum seekers are facing the risk of deportation due to a lack of documents. My request to those countries is that, considering the challenges of our country this year, they refrain from deporting asylum seekers.

Conclusion and Vision for the Future

The story of our refugees is a tragic chapter of contemporary history. For decades, millions of Afghans have been forced to live away from their hearths and homes and endure the hardships of migration, and unfortunately, this situation has not yet ended. But our firm decision and resolve are to once again turn Afghanistan into a shared and secure home for all Afghans, and to shape a future where no compatriot is forced to leave their motherland—and by God’s grace, this future is not far off. In the entirety of the last calendar year, seventeen thousand refugees returned to the country; however, in the current year, in the first six months alone, forty-two thousand of our compatriots have returned. Statistics show that the process of refugees returning to the country has accelerated several-fold. Afghans, wherever they may live, do not forget their homeland. Our literature is filled with feelings of love for the country and the expression of the bitter experiences of exile. Our people understand better than anyone else this truth: "In a foreign land, even a brave man’s worth is diminished!" Hoping for a tomorrow where not only in Afghanistan but in no country is anyone forced to leave their homeland. Long live Afghanistan! Zinda bad Afghanistan!