At the end of 2015, the UNHCR estimated there are approximately 1.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan. Violence has been the major factor in involuntary population movements among Afghans.
An additional 2.7 million Afghans are refugees abroad, primarily in Pakistan and Iran, where they face an uncertain political situation, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Iranian officials, for example, deport thousands of undocumented Afghans without allowing them the opportunity to demonstrate a legal right to remain in Iran, or to lodge an asylum application.
When Afghan refugees do repatriate, they return to a country that remains plagued by war, poverty, and lawlessness. Access to health care remains very limited, with 15 percent of the population without access to even basic healthcare services. In areas where fighting continues, militants lack respect for the neutrality of health care facilities, making visiting these facilities dangerous.
Key Findings
• A quarter of refugees worldwide are Afghan, and the vast majority live in Pakistan or Iran, where they face an uncertain political status.
• Afghan IDPs and repatriated refugees unable to return to their original places of origin often live in informal settlements, where many people have died due to environmental conditions and illness.
• Key public health indicators in Afghanistan are poor, with access to basic health care very low and rates of child malnourishment high.
My own opinion of the topic
When I think of refugees, Afghanistan is the first thing that comes to my mind. It means Afghanistan is famous for a lot of refugees, but I didn’t know that Afghan is a quarter of refugees in the world. And also I didn’t know the word “refugee” accurately. There is a difference between people who go out the border or not, people who don’t go out borders called IDPs. Most surprising fact for me is one in three Afghan children are lack of nutrition and 15% of the population cannot access to even basic healthcare services. I don’t know the situation exactly, but I can imagine that people are almost died because of the super lack of foods. I suppose that Afghan children cannot take an education and don’t have enough foods. Also, each family member flees to other countries and maybe they cannot meet again. I think that Afghan government has a responsible for the terrible situation. At first the government should do to keep the peace and then do to provide enough foods to the citizens. But I think that the government cannot do almost anything because the country itself is in a bad situation. However, governments of other countries can help Afghan refugees to support for money or foods. Developed countries like Japan and America should accept them as immigrants. I think that I cannot do anything other than donation because it’s too dangerous to visit there.