U.N. Resumes Return of Afghan Refugees From Pakistan
U.N.-facilitated returns of Afghan refugees from Pakistan to Afghanistan resumed on April 3 after a winter pause.
Nearly 600,000 Afghans returned from Pakistan, including 365,000 registered refugees, between July 2016 and when returns halted in November.
Human rights groups say a campaign of police abuse of refugees and the threat of looming deadlines for all refugees to leave the country has undermined the voluntary nature of the U.N.-assisted returns.
Some 16,000 Afghans are already registered with the U.N. to return and are expected to head over the border in the next two months.
The U.N. refugee agency has brought the cash support each returning refugee receives back down to $200, after it was doubled to $400 last June, citing donor shortfalls.
Turkey: 50,000 Syrians Returned to Recaptured Border Area
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said 50,000 Syrians have returned to parts of northern Syria captured by Turkey and Turkish-backed forces.
Turkey announced the end of its eight-month military operation in Syria on March 29, saying Operation Euphrates Shield had been successful in clearing Islamic State militants from Turkey’s border area and facilitating the return of refugees.
Cavusoglu said Turkish troops would remain in the area to establish a “terror-free zone.”
On the ground, Turkey’s efforts to control the border area and stop Syrian Kurdish forces gaining ground have been frustrated by both U.S. backing for the Kurds and Russian backing for the regime.
Study: 85 Percent Refugees in Europe Fled Explosive Violence
A U.K.-based charity’s study of refugees in Britain, Germany and Greece found 85 percent had witnessed explosive violence.
Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) interviewed more than 250 refugees in the three countries. They found 69 percent had witnessed shelling, 61 percent airstrikes, 58 percent improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and 39 percent suicide bombings.
Some 69 percent said their families had been directly affected by the violence and 44 percent said their homes had been destroyed.
According to AOAV, 92 percent of Afghan refugees surveyed had been impacted by explosive violence and 90 percent of Iraqis.
The study also found only 20 percent of refugees had received psychological support.
AOAV executive director Iain Overton told the Guardian that European countries were not factoring the trauma of refugees experiencing these levels of violence into their refugee response.
“Our findings show that the refugee crisis in Europe has been categorically fueled by explosive violence, but that states and some sections of the media are not making this connection,” he said.
Recommended Reads:
- New Republic: The General and the Refugee
- The Intercept: New Evidence Undermines E.U. Report Tying Refugee Rescue Group to Smugglers
- The Guardian: Tiny Graves: Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Struggle for Space to Bury Children
- The New York Times: Fleeing Boko Haram, Thousands Cling to a Road to Nowhere
- The Independent: Surge in Child Refugees Trying to Reach U.K. Creates ‘Terrifying New Market’ for People Traffickers