Sent back

Hundreds of Afghans have made the dangerous journey to Europe only to be deported.

Take Sharif (name changed). He has returned empty-handed to Afghanistan after he was expelled by Germany.

Hundreds of Afghans have made the dangerous journey to Europe only to be deported.

Take Sharif (name changed). He has returned empty-handed to Afghanistan after he was expelled by Germany. Before going to Europe he sold everything he owned in Afghanistan. The journey was much more difficult than he had imagined. Illegal migrants like him camp for days on the borders of Europe like Greece and Macedonia. Once they enter Germany, the favoured destination of most migrants, their problems are far from over as Amin, an educated youth from Parwan, discovered. He has been in a shelter for months now waiting to be told if his request for refuge will be accepted.  Amin says he decided to try his luck in Europe because the only job he got after his studies was in the insecure province of Ghorband. Now he is stuck in the shelter in Germany. “We wait endlessly,” he told Killid over the phone. “Most people are tired. The uncertainty is killing.”

Amin feels people are much better off staying in Afghanistan. He thinks Afghans should force their government to find work for all of them, and provide security.

However for now, the flood of migrants – both external and internal – shows no signs of abating. Anwar from Helmand province has fled to Kabul because of fear of war and drugs. He says two of his sons have now left for Europe because there was no work to be found. “Working conditions were better in Helmand,” he reckons. The father has to regularly send them money to meet their expenses. Naturally there is considerable anxiety about the future.

Bleak future

Social scientist Eqbal Azimi says Afghans who choose to leave the country but are deported have nothing to return to. “They are trapped in the closed borders of Europe and when they are expelled they face problems,” he observes.

The Afghan government has no real strategy for returning citizens among who are also women and children. United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA) estimates 60 percent of Afghan refugees are women and children. Afghans are the second largest population after Syrians to enter Greece.

Curiously, the problem of returning refugees is handled by the youths’ presidency in the Ministry of Culture and Information and not the Ministry of Refugees. The deputy minister for youth in the former ministry said at a press conference last week in Kabul that they would be launching a campaign to dissuade youth from migrating. They would be told of the risks of illegal migration.

Kamal Sadat, the assistant director for youths in the ministry, has warned manpower agents that they risk severe punishment if they continue to mislead people. He promised that the government would start projects for job creation and education.

Afghanistan could be one of the most prosperous countries in the region only if the full potential of its location on the crossroads of Central and South Asia was fully realised. With its immense natural wealth, mining has the potential to transform the economy. The leaders of the national unity government, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, had also promised to develop agriculture. That too is a neglected promise.

Present unemployment levels are between 25 and 35 percent of the working population. CSO or Central Statistics Organisation estimates the unemployment levels are at 25 percent. The Afghanistan Labour Union states, “Some 4.5 million Afghans out of 12 million eligible to work are jobless.” Other sources put joblessness at 35 percent. The World Food Programme and World Bank estimate half the population lives under the poverty line.