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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Afghanistan: return of Kabul internally displaced to begin
5 Mar 2002 ... and the Afghan government on Wednesday will start helping more than 15,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from Kabul city to return to their homes in the Shomali region of central Afghanistan. ...... -
Returns to Afghanistan
28 Mar 2000 ... Ambar Khana in Batikot district, Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan marking the start of this year's repatriation season during which up to 200,000 Afghans could go home from Pakistan and Iran. ...... -
Afghanistan: returns information campaign in north-west
13 Feb 2004 ... The recent commitment by regional power broker General Ahmed Rashid Dostum before Afghanistan's Constitutional Loya Jirga to facilitate the return of internally displaced people to the north is ...... -
Afghanistan: Returns set to top quarter million mark
20 Jun 2003 ... since the fall of the Taliban regime to well over two million. ... security in parts of Afghanistan voiced by many ... With UNHCR recording at least 3,000-5,000 returns per day, the ...... -
Number of voluntary returns to Afghanistan this year tops 100,000
27 Aug 2010 ... KABUL, Afghanistan, August 27 (UNHCR) - The number of people returning voluntarily to Afghanistan from ... of the past few years show, the number of returns can vary significantly from year-to-year. ...... -
UNHCR clears obstacles to return of Afghan refugees
25 Sep 2003 ... of Afghans heading home from Pakistan this year are the first groups repatriating under a UNHCR programme that seeks solutions to specific problems in Afghanistan that had prevented their return. ...... -
Afghanistan: Returns from Pakistan decline with coming winter, insecurity
17 Sep 2002 ... Seven percent in the last two weeks have gone back to eastern Afghanistan, while five percent returned to ... internally displaced persons, is the main reason why so few Afghans return to that area. ...... -
Afghanistan: Returns top 400,000
30 Apr 2002 ... to Afghanistan two months after UNHCR and the Afghan Interim Administration, in collaboration with Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan, launched an assistance programme for returnees. Returns from ...... -
Returns to Caprivi small-scale but significant, says UNHCR
19 Apr 2005 ... DUKWI CAMP, Botswana, April 19 (UNHCR) - A convoy of 12 may seem minuscule in a world used to seeing mass returns to Afghanistan and Liberia. But as the repatriation of a dozen refugees to Namibia's ......