WORLD_ European Union drafts plans to return 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees

ABC NEWS

European Union drafts plans to return 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees

PM
By South Asia correspondent James Bennett

Updated Thu at 11:14pm

Struggling to cope with the influx of Syrians, the European Union has drafted confidential plans to send 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers and refugees back to the war-torn country.

Afghanistan's Government opposes the plan, saying it cannot guarantee their safety and does not have the resources to resettle them.

The document, marked "restricted", discusses possible financial incentives to make the plan viable, including for potential forced returns.

Hafiz Ahmad Miakhel, spokesman for Afghanistan's Refugee and Repatriation minister, said it could not accommodate such a vast number.

"For now the Afghan Government is opposite [sic] for the forcible deportation because the situation is not good in Afghanistan," Mr Miakhel said.

The EU's options paper states returns would not be possible to all provinces for safety reasons, and acknowledges yet more people are likely to flee due to the Taliban's advance.

"Most of the Afghans leave the country because of the insecurity, some districts is under the control of the Taliban, also Taliban and Daesh fighting against the Afghan police," Mr Miakhel said.

The idea has been leaked as new UN figures show a jump in the number of Afghans trying to reach Europe.

They are being driven by a worsening security and economic situation, now so bad that the UN's goal for Afghanistan in 2016 is merely to see the country survive.

Afghanistan 'eclipsed by events in Syria'

In the last 12 months, as the Taliban regained control over swathes of Afghanistan previously protected by Western troops, 250,000 Afghans fled their country.

The proportion deemed to be genuine refugees also increased, from 43 per cent in 2014 to 60 per cent last year.

New UN figures show that so far in 2016, the exodus is continuing.

Of the human tide arriving in Greece, Afghans made up 28 per cent in January and 25 per cent in February.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has condemned the exodus, declaring that he has "no sympathy" for those who flee.

In an interview with the BBC, President Ghani said that those choosing to leave were doing so "under the slightest of pressures" and should instead work to build up their country.

"When they leave, they break the social contract," President Ghani said.

"Theirs is an existential choice. Countries do not survive by their best attempting to flee. So I have no sympathy."

The UN's deputy envoy in Afghanistan, Mark Bowden, said that they were being driven by an escalation in what he described as "constant background" violence.

"Afghanistan suffers one of the highest levels of civilian casualties, car bombs and IEDs," he said.

"We just had a rocket attack on parliament. People have been living for many years with violence and fear."

2015 was the most deadly on record for Afghan civilians since the UN began keeping count in 2009.

Mr Bowden said the problem for Afghans was their 15-year-old conflict had been overshadowed by Syria's. "We need to be aware of the awful phrase 'compassion fatigue'," he said.

"It has to some extent been eclipsed by events in Syria."

Afghanistan heavily reliant on foreign aid

Mr Bowden also acknowledged the costs of ensuring the safety of those returning to a war-torn country would be substantial. "

A figure that is as large as 80,000 is actually an immense amount of work," he said.

Afghanistan still depends on foreign aid for 70 per cent of its budget.

Donor countries, the EU nations included, meet in Brussels this October to decide how much money to give the country over the next several years.

It is highly likely tied some to accepting a large number of returnees.

But Mr Bowden warns devoting aid money to easing Europe's burden in the short term could prove counter-productive in the long run.

"It's possible if you pay for it," he said.

"But also you don't want to do that at the expense of other development projects that are needed to reduce the other peoples' vulnerability."

First posted Thu at 1:01pm

READ MORE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-31/eu-examines-plan-to-return-80000-afghan-refugees-asylum-seekers/7286272

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