Seven out of 10 Afghan refugees who’ve returned to Afghanistan are forced to flee again, claimed the Norwegian Refugee Council (Flyktninghjelpen) this week. It has criticized the Norwegian government’s program of forced returns of refugees not deemed as qualifying for asylum, and its secretary general Jan Egeland will meet Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide next week.
A council survey of 1,161 returning refugees in Afghanistan found that 72 percent had to flee their homes at least twice. Fully 27 percent had been on the run three times since returning to the country still plagued by unrest and terrorism.
“The findings in our report should prompt European countries and Afghanistan’s neighbours to halt the deportations and think through their policies anew,” Egeland stated. He doesn’t think anyone should be forcibly returned to Afghanistan, with more than another million fleeing their homes just in the past two years.
News bureau NTB reported that statistics show that 238 rejected Afghan refugees were sent back to Afghanistan last, while more returned voluntarily in return for financial support.
newsinenglish.no staff
