The International Organization for Migration warns of the difficult conditions for returnees to Afghanistan

The International Organization for Migration has issued a strong warning regarding the conditions of thousands of returnees to Afghanistan, noting that many of them face "significant difficulties" in rebuilding their lives within the country, which is experiencing turbulent conditions despite a relative improvement in the security situation.

Mehyeong Park, the head of the organization's operations in Afghanistan, stated that among the returnees are those who had never lived in the country before, while others were forced to sell their homes and land, or even borrow money to finance their journey, only to find themselves upon return without any resources or actual support.

Park confirmed during recent meetings in Berlin with officials from the German Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs that German support and European Union assistance played an important role in alleviating the suffering of returnees, particularly through providing aid at reception centers at border crossings, including financial support to cover travel costs within the country.

Despite the grim picture, Park pointed to two positive developments: the ability of international relief organizations to reach all provinces of Afghanistan, and the overall stabilization of the security situation compared to what it was five years ago.

Return operations to Afghanistan continue at a high pace, with thousands of people returning daily from neighboring countries, especially Pakistan and Iran, which have been the largest source of deportations since the beginning of 2023.

Turkey is also organizing charter flights to regularly repatriate Afghans.

Turkish authorities state that returnees left the country voluntarily after being detained in closed detention centers due to not having valid residence permits.

However, non-governmental organizations, such as the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, revealed in a recent analysis that 65,815 Afghans were detained in Turkey last year as irregular migrants, in addition to 16,268 others who were detained this year until May 8.

Reports indicate that many Afghans in Turkey were working to raise money to continue their journey to Europe through human smugglers.

In this context, the European Union does not show significant objection to Turkey deporting thousands annually, considering it an effective means to curb irregular migration to Europe.

Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, Germany, with the support of Qatar, has organized two mass deportation operations to Afghanistan targeting individuals convicted of crimes.

The German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt plans to expand the scope of these operations in the future, but has not yet specified whether Qatar will continue to participate in carrying out those deportations.