This article was originally published in Oxford’s Forced Migration Review, and is available here. Failure to anticipate drought and to coordinate an effective, recovery-focused response contributed to the protracted displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Afghanistan. In the face of climate crisis impacts, ensuring preparedness and early action will be key. In 2018…
Strengthening access to refugee education has an untapped potential to create a generation of youth that can contribute to the development of both Pakistan and their homeland Afghanistan, when the situation improves. Pakistan is home to 1.44 million registered Afghan refugees, and a further 600,000 unregistered Afghan refugees, many of whom have been in the…
‘Given the tightening of civil society space inside Afghanistan, the role of the diaspora, including refugee-led groups, is even more important.’ SYDNEY and DHAKA Donor support for Afghanistan must include civil society and diaspora groups – or risk eroding local skills and fuelling aid dependency. Without proper support, Afghan-led groups will suffer, and the civil…
Support to Afghanistan must not end at the gates of the nation’s airport. Evan Jones explains how countries must come together to protect those left behind. Comment: During late August, the eyes of the world were glued to rapidly unfolding political developments in Afghanistan, and subsequent evacuation efforts at Kabul Airport. Over nearly two weeks, more than…
More than four years have passed since Myanmar security forces began “clearance operations” targeting ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State. Purportedly a response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an ethnic insurgent group, these operations were the culmination of mounting rights abuses and restrictions disproportionately directed at Rohingya communities. More than…
International military forces leave behind a country facing growing insecurity and levels of violence, a faltering economy and multiple humanitarian crises. Buried amongst the dozens of pressing challenges in Afghanistan is an issue that rarely receives the international spotlight: the prevalence of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. Often referred to as ‘hidden and…
The withdrawal of troops marks the end of one of America’s longest military engagements but the social, economic and security situation in the country remains dire. Whilst the international community is focusing upon what a post-US and NATO Afghanistan may look like, Afghans are grappling with the ongoing and acute humanitarian needs within the country.…
The principles of safety and dignity must not only guide the pursuit of durable solutions, but also the return of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Successful return involves much more than putting people on a plane. Jared Rowell, Afghanistan Country Director for the Danish Refugee Council, and Evan Jones at the Kabul-based Asia Displacement Solutions…
This article, co-authored by Najeeba Wazefadost and Evan Jones appeared in The New Humanitarian. KABUL, Afghanistan and SYDNEY, Australia COVID-19 is one of the biggest global challenges in modern history, and all nations are grappling with its impacts. But some countries have responded by shutting their doors even further to the world’s most vulnerable. Many…
Don’t forget to ask Afghan refugees what they really need. 2020 has been a year of extraordinary change, unprecedented challenges and – in some respects – a year of reflection for us all. For the people of Afghanistan, it has once again been all of this and more. From the initiation of peace talks with…