Uncertainty about the future, insecurity and lack of employment opportunities are causing thousands of Afghans to travel, mostly illegally, to Australia, Europe and other countries of world each year. The journey is perilous and may cost them their lives. But they never give up.
More than three decades have past but unfortunately, the people of Afghanistan face grave violence, war and conflict. News of terror activities that take lives of innocent Afghans run on national and international media almost on daily basis. The Afghan government admits to the fact that Afghans do not feel safe and secure in their own country. The prevailing condition in Afghanistan has led Afghans to risk their lives for reaching advanced countries of the world.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Sunday May 7, 2013, expressed concern over worse condition of Afghan refugees in Greece and Sweden adding that more than 80 thousands are in an uncertain situation. At the same time, the Afghan Ministry of refugees also does not consider Afghan refugees’ situation in Sweden and Greece as favorable and has said that more than 1,000 of refugees in Finland and 11,000 in Germany face an uncertain fate.
In the recent years, despite strict immigration rules in many advanced countries, the number of Afghans immigrants reaching Australia, Europe and other developed countries of the world has dramatically increased. At the same time, not only hundreds die in the ways but also there are thousands of Afghans living in inhuman condition in countries like Indonesia and Greece. The Afghan government has turned a blind eye over the sufferings of the Afghan refugees not only in neighboring countries but also in other countries of the world.
A huge number of Afghans are seeking refuge in European and other Western countries to escape violence in their homeland. Nonetheless, the Afghan government has been urging those countries to send back Afghan asylum seekers without having any rational plan to secure their lives and provide them job opportunities.
The Afghan government needs to find out an appropriate solution that can encourage Afghans to stay in their own country. Without having such a solution at hand, urging the foreign countries to deport the Afghan asylum seekers would fuel the problem. Currently, there is no reason why Afghans should not travel to seek a secure life. It is their basic right.