Afghanistan 10 years after Soviet pull-out
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
A decade after the last Soviet soldier left Afghan soil, and 20 years after the first groups of Afghan refugees fled the Soviet invasion, more than 2.6 million Afghans still remain in exile.
The Afghans have remained the single largest refugee group in the world for 19 years in succession, although their continuing plight has, in recent years, been overshadowed by newer conflicts and refugee movements elsewhere in the world.
By the end of 1979 - the year the Soviet army entered Afghanistan in support of the communist regime which had seized power the previous year - there were already 400,000 refugees in Pakistan and 200,000 in Iran. By 15 February 1989, the number had risen to a staggering 6.2 million, split almost equally between the two neighbouring countries, which showed extraordinary generosity in hosting such a vast number of refugees on their territory, despite the burden they represented to their own societies, environment and infrastructure. In both Iran and Pakistan, the refugees were allowed to work, and received considerable government support in the education and health sectors.
Since the Soviet withdrawal, almost two thirds of the refugees have returned to their devastated and poverty-stricken country, despite the outbreak of a new war between different Afghan groups competing for power. In all, more than 4 million Afghans have returned home voluntarily since 1989 - another refugee record - and a remarkable testimony to their courage.
While it was the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan that caused the majority of the refugees to flee, it is subsequent events - almost uninterrupted fighting between constantly shifting alliances of Afghan political groups and militias, continued human rights abuses, and a shattered economy and infrastructure - that is preventing the final settlement of the Soviet legacy.
The strength of the refugees' desire to rebuild their lives in their home country was amply demonstrated in 1992, after the communist government, shorn of its superpower support, finally fell from power. During the course of that year, a total of 1.6 million refugees went home. In 1993, another million followed suit, even though by then the capital city, Kabul, was being torn apart by infighting between different Afghan factions.
By the late 1990s, the numbers returning to relatively safe parts of the country - of which there are plenty - were still adding up to around 100,000 a year. However, many of the remaining refugees are understandably reluctant to return under current circumstances.
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UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2002 - Iran, Islamic Republic of
1 Dec 2001 ... assisted by UNHCR. Most of the Afghan refugees now in Iran took refuge during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, up to the end of the ...... -
Pakistan's census of Afghans provides first detailed profile of the population
24 Aug 2005 ... Just over half said their families had arrived in 1979 and 1980, the period when the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan triggered the biggest exodus. In fact, 80 percent of all Afghans said their families ...... -
Refugees Magazine Issue 108 (Afghanistan : the unending crisis) - The view across the Amu Darya
1 Jun 1997 ... As imperial Russian troops expanded the Czars' domains, successive waves of Turkmen fled into Iran and north-western Afghanistan. When the Soviets later imposed forced collectivization and disastrous ...... -
Refugees Magazine Issue 100 (Refugee women) - Two steps forward, one step back
1 Jun 1995 ... arrived after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. "I could not imagine that I would change my mind and devote my life to another cause - that of making Afghan refugee women self-reliant." ...... -
Feature: Brightening the lives of Afghan refugees during Ramadan
2 Dec 2002 ... 15 percent from the old camps established in the years immediately following the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A mere 3 percent returned from new camps like Asgharo in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. ...... -
Afghans embark on journey "from one home to another"
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30 Apr 2012 ... Mohammad had only recently graduated from high school when his family fled Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 1979 Soviet invasion. Waheedullah Aleko, UNHCR's senior protection assistant in Kabul, ...... -
Refugees bring world-class cricket to Afghanistan
16 Jul 2014 ... Nabi's family - cousins, uncles, parents, brothers and sisters--- left Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. Relatively well off, they lived in rented homes and started businesses in ...... -
Feature: Eager weavers put a positive spin on refugee life in Pakistan
30 Jan 2003 ... with his family from Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan in 1982 following the Soviet invasion. "Initially it was a hard task to establish the set-up in our camp houses, but somehow we did it." ......