Afghans the largest group of asylum seekers

Afghans were the largest group of people applying for asylum in the first five months of this year, with some 19,975 applications in 27 European countries, acording to UNHCR.

The ongoing drought and fighting in Afghanistan, coupled with the situation Afghan refugees were facing in neighbouring countries, could see a continuing rise in the figure over the next few months, a UN official in Geneva told IRIN.

“There is increasing hostility towards Afghan refugees in countries such as Pakistan and Iran,” a spokesman for UNHCR in Geneva, Rupert Colville, said on Wednesday. Afghan refugees were feeling “less secure” in their host countries, this being a reason for them to move on and apply for asylum, he added.

Pakistan is home to the largest number of Afghan refugees in the world, and says it cannot cope. It has already placed an eviction order on an Afghan refugee camp in the country’s North-West Frontier Province, and called on the UN to facilitate repatriation.

Colville explained that even though the report indicated a nine percent drop in applications from Afghans in May this year, the number was more likely to rise in the long term.

“This is probably the worst period in Afghanistan. People know what the situation is like, and they don’t want to go back,” he said. He added, however, that it was difficult to determine what had caused the slight drop in applications.

The report said that in May, 14 asylum countries, including Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, had experienced an increase in the number of monthly applications. Among the eight countries which recorded a decrease were Finland, Portugal and France.
After Afghanistan, Iraq constituted the second-largest source of asylum-seekers, accounting for 17,400 applications, the report said.

However, there have also been calls from Afghan refugees wanting to return home. “Refugees protested outside the UNHCR office in Quetta, where they’ve been wanting to move back for some time,” Colville said.

UNHCR restarted a repatriation programme for Afghans in Pakistan on Tuesday. Some 158 refugees were moved from Quetta, the provincial capital of the southwestern Baluchistan Province, to the southeastern Afghan province of Kandahar. All 39 families had asked for help in returning to non-war affected areas in their homeland.

“We don’t encourage people to go back, but we can’t deny them help if they want to,” Colville said. He added that the Afghans themselves knew what was best for them. “It is a brave decision, and it seems bizarre that they would want to go home, but it is a very localised decision,” he said.

On the question of ensuring the safety of Afghan returnees, he said UNHCR had made sure they were being resettled in safe areas. Discussions had also been held with the ruling Taliban to urge them to stop the practice of recruiting returnees as fighters, he added. Colville said Afghan refugees were in a desperate situation.

“A lot of Afghans are losing hope in returning to their country due to the terrible conditions there,” he said.