In the world, one refugee in four comes from Afghanistan
Kabul (AsiaNews) - Continued Taliban attacks in central Kabul, a general climate of insecurity, a growing Islamisation of society, high unemployment and poverty have kept Afghanistan at the top of the world's ranking for refugees for the 32nd year in a row.
On Wednesday, ahead of World Refugee Day on Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released its annual report on globally displaced people.
With close to 2.6 million refugees in 82 countries, Afghanistan remained the leading country of origin of refugees in 2012, the source for 25 per cent of the world's refugees with Pakistan and Iran hosting 95 per cent of them.
With over 1.6 million registered foreign refugees at the end of 2012, Pakistan was by far the country with the most refugees living in the country. This figures does not include an additional 1.6 million unregistered Afghans.
Iran was the next highest country with 868,200, the overwhelming majority of them from Afghanistan, although a small per cent are from Iraq.
UNHCR data are alarming because they show that the country is still unstable 12 after NATO forces pushed out the Taliban. Sources told AsiaNews that no social or economic progress has been made since then.
Many Afghans will be relieved to see foreign troops leave the country in 2014 but they are also fearful, because the Taliban have made a comeback in the past few years.
On 27 May, Islamic extremists launched an attack in the heart of the capital that killed five people and wounded dozens, including Barbara de Anna, an Italian official with the International Organisation for Migration, who died today after several weeks of treatment in a German hospital.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber struck at a convoy that included former Vice President Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a leader of the Hazara minority. The attack took place west of Kabul and killed three people, leaving the political leader unharmed.
The Taliban have also acquired greater stature on the diplomatic front, casting a shadow over the government led by President Hamid Karzai.
On 18 June, the Islamist movement opened its first embassy in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The Arab emirate allowed the terrorists to hoist their flag and place a plaque at the entrance of the building that read, 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan'.
This has enraged Afghan President Karzai. In an official statement, he said the incident was a real affront to his authority and boycotted a diplomatic meeting organised by the United States and Qatar on Wednesday in Doha.
According to al-Jazeera, Qatar's main broadcaster, the Taliban flag and plaque were apparently removed from the building, but that was not enough to convince the Afghan president to attend the talks.
.png)
02/11/2023 17:07
