About 2,000 Afghans leave country daily

The transportation companies in Kabul say that nearly 2,000 Afghans, mostly youths, are illegally fleeing the country on daily basis toward the neighboring Iran.

They stated that due to the insecurity and unemployment, Afghan youths are fleeing the country toward Iran, Turkey or the European countries.

The drivers have painful stories about the fate of illegal travelers, saying a large number of death bodies have returned back to the country from Iran borders.

“When they arrive in Nimroz, they are sold without even knowing. They fall into hands of Baluch smugglers,” Jawid, a driver said.

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Ghana: all Afghan refugees should return to Afghanistan in next 2 years:

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani says all Afghan refugees should return back to Afghanistan particularly from Pakistan in next twenty four months.

Speaking during a gathering to mark the 29th year of the withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Afghanistan, President Ghani said the government is committed to bring changes in its priorities in a bid to pave the way for the return of the refugees.

President Ghani further added that he wants all the refugees to return to the country in the next 24 months, insisting that the government does not want the issue of the refugees remain an excuse for the Pakistani authorities.

This comes as the foreign ministry of Pakistan in reaction to a drone strike on Haqqani terrorist network member said last month that “Pakistan has also been stressing the need of early repatriation of Afghan refugees as their presence in Pakistan helps Afghan terrorists to melt and morph among them.”

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Clashes between Taliban, IS displace thousands of families in Nangarhar

At least 10 thousand families have been displaced as result of recent clashes between the Taliban and Islamic State or Daesh in Khogyani district of eastern Nangarhar province, officials said Monday.

Javid Ahmad, an official of the provincial immigration department confirmed the incident and said that five to eight thousand of these displaced families are in need of urgent assistance.

“We have escaped [from there] in search of life, what we could have done [better]?” a displaced family member said. “We have escaped in night with children who are sick now, we don’t have something to eat.”

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Mohaqiq expresses concern over increasing Daesh activities, displacement

Deputy Chief Executive Mohammad Mohaqiq has expressed his concerns regarding the expansion of Daesh militants activities in northern provinces of Afghanistan.

“Daesh and its branches have intensified its activities in Afghanistan and it has caused widespread concerns among the people of Afghanistan,” Mohaqiq who was speaking in a seminar on migration in Kabul said.

He stated that the extremist group is widely active in Faryab, Jawzjan, and Sar-e-Pul provinces.

In addition , he said disagreements within the government, discrimination and nepotism are the main reasons behind insecurities and fleeing from the country.

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Number Of Return Refugees Drops To 50 Percent

The number of Afghan refugees who return home from Pakistan and European countries has decreased to 50 percent this year – compared with the same period of last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Meanwhile, the IOM statistics indicate that the number of return refugees from Iran has reduced to 25 percent – 50 percent of them were deported.

More than 87,000 Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan since January, the IOM says, while 167,000 Afghan refugees returned to the country in the same period in 2016.

Also, over 280,000 refugees have returned home from Iran since the beginning of this year, the IOM statistics show.

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A hard winter: Afghan refugees return from Pakistan

Caught in the middle of political tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan are some two million Afghan refugees – registered and unregistered – who now face the option of either returning voluntarily or being deported from Pakistan.

And it couldn’t happen at a worse time.

Winter in Afghanistan can be bitterly cold. The country is also experiencing a spike in violence, with increased attacks from the Taliban and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters, leading to peak levels of civilian casualties and internal displacement as people flee the fighting.

“I’m scared to come here because there is no security,” says Medina Ghassen, 16, an Afghan refugee who was born in Pakistan, as she waits for a doctor to inspect her mother’s injured foot at a UNHCR clinic at the Kabul deregistration centre.

Her family has decided to return to Afghanistan voluntarily and is now being removed from the refugee registry. They are also being given cash and medical help by the United Nations before finding a home in Afghanistan.

“[Pakistani authorities] wouldn’t let us stay there. They made the situation very hard,” Ghassen, whose family is originally from Logar province, south of Kabul, explains.

“I was going to school, and I don’t think I can go to school here. It’s very dangerous,” she adds.

The family says it is not sure where they will stay after leaving the UNHCR centre, which is bustling with thousands of people who arrived overnight.

There is already a chill in the air, and staff have been scrambling to get enough blankets and heaters to keep people warm overnight. The deregistration of the refugees – a process that can take around 30 minutes for each person or family, depending on the crowds and the needs of the individuals – starts moving at a brisk pace shortly after 7am.

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Germany warns Afghanistan over flow of refugees

Berlin has warned Kabul over the flow of refugees saying it will continue security operations in Afghanistan only if arrival of refugees stopped.

The country’s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said that Germany will stay in Afghanistan for providing security support as long as it is necessary but the influx of refugees be stopped.

“We’re staying here as long as it’s necessary. But we also expect that the Afghan population stays here,” Maiziere said. “We want the influx of refugees to be stopped.”

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