Return, Reintegration and Political Restructuring in Afghanistan: Surveyof Return Migration to Kabul and Kandahar, 2022

Afghanistan has been witnessing one of the worst internal displacements and refugee crises in the world for more than 40 years. Every Afghan regime shift brought up a fresh wave of refugee crisis and humanitarian disaster in the country. Since the 1970s, it is estimated that 6 million Afghans have fled their country. Despite the ongoing conflict, there have been sporadic waves of returnees settling back in Afghanistan in conjunction with political and power shifts in the country. The UNHCR1(2022) estimated that although 5.3 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan since 2002 and until 2021, 3.4 million Afghans are presently internally displaced and still 2.1 million registered Afghan refugees are “hosted” in Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. This report is based on a survey and semi-structured interviews with returnees carried out in Kabul and Kandahar between September 2020 and April 2021 and provides insights into the motivations and experiences of conflict faced by Afghans who returned to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2020. The majority of respondents taking part in the survey returned from Pakistan and other neighbouring countries after a prolonged time as refugees there with their families. One-third of the respondents returned from Western countries and a much smaller proportion from the Middle East. Overall, the sample represents working-age people with relatively high levels of education and employment, reflecting the profile of urban returnees in Kabul and Kandahar. While the most common reason for leaving Afghanistan in the first place was conflict, family and caring responsibilities constitute the most common reason for return, particularly for women. The second most common reason for both genders is the improved political situation in Afghanistan. For men, the next most common reasons were the end of their education abroad and being expelled/deported or lack of visa in the country of immigration, suggesting gendered emigration and return patterns. The report includes key findings and recommendations based on the survey results.
Acik, Yilmaz Keles, Kakar and Kakar (2022) Return, Reintegration and Political Restructuring in Afghanistan: Survey of Return Migration to Kabul and Kandahar, Gender, Justice and Security Hub