Strategic Consultations on Afghan Refugees

Remarks by Richard Greene
Acting Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration

October 7, 2005

Welcome , High Commissioner Guterres, Minister, Ambassadors, and other distinguished guests, I am pleased to co-chair our consultations today, as we continue this remarkable international effort to end the most dramatic refugee dislocation of the late 20th century. I would like to thank UNHCR for co-chairing this conference with us. The timing, at the conclusion of a successful EXCOM, is opportune. I would also like to thank the European Commission for its ongoing leadership and continued interest in guiding and sustaining our common efforts in Afghanistan and the region.

I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome and congratulations to Filippo Grandi. As UNHCR's Chief of Mission in Afghanistan and then as Deputy SRSG in UNAMA, Filippo has been a true champion of Afghan refugees and his work has been instrumental in the success achieved to date. We are lucky to have Filippo here for one last meeting before he heads off to his new position as Deputy Commissioner-General at UNRWA. We wish you the best of luck in your new role.

Ladies and Gentlemen , as Afghanistan continues in its transition from relief to development, our purpose for meeting here today is to ensure that the international community remains focused on the successful refugee repatriation and reintegration in Afghanistan, as well as continued assistance to refugees and countries of asylum. For successful stabilization is simply not possible without adequately addressing the compelling needs of the returning refugees and those remaining in countries of first asylum. Successfully responding to the tectonic shifts that displacement has caused in the region will require continued serious long-term, engagement and also new ideas from the world community.

We are a diverse group here today, representing donors, relief agencies, refugee hosts, and the people of Afghanistan. All have played an important role in responding to the Afghan crisis.

But first we must acknowledge the extraordinary generosity of Afghanistan's neighbors, Pakistan and Iran, who have for decades hosted millions of Afghans, sharing their land and resources with a desperate and needy population.

We must also recognize the contributions of the donors assembled here today: thanks to their generosity, Afghanistan has thousands of kilometers of newly-paved roads, hundreds of reconstructed schools, scores of new medical clinics, expert advisors for dozens of ministries, and much, much more. Furthermore, the knowledge, persistence and hard work of international humanitarian workers and local NGOs and legal authorities has been remarkable.

But above all, we must acknowledge and honor the sacrifices, the strength, the spirit, and the dedication, of the Afghan people. As you all know, Afghanistan just held successful parliamentary elections. However, we here today know that perhaps the most significant Afghan election has occurred over the last three and a half years as millions of Afghan refugees have voted with their feet – with the assistance of UNHCR and IOM to return to their homeland. They have done so despite facing daunting challenges in every aspect of their daily lives.

I would like to take a few minutes to discuss where we have been in Afghanistan, where we are today, and then set some goals for our discussion this afternoon.

Four short years ago, Afghanistan was a country on the very margins of the earth, politically, economically, and socially.  Its government, isolated and largely ignored by the world community, ruled by fiat.  Its economy, atrophied through years of neglect and poor planning, was practically non-existent.  Its people, devastated by two decades of warfare, deprivation, and oppression, had little hope of regaining any sense of normalcy in their lives.

Afghanistan's progress since 2001 has been amazing:

• Four years ago, Afghanistan was ruled by an unelected, brutal regime.  Today, it is led by a democratically elected president, and has just undertaken the first free and fair parliamentary elections in its history.

• Four years ago, Afghanistan's females were forbidden from attending school. By this year, more than 1.2 million girls had enrolled in school.

• Four years ago, the Afghan countryside was littered with more landmines than any other nation on earth.  By 2005, over 160 million square meters of land had been cleared of mines.

• Four years ago, over seven million Afghans lived as refugees; today, four million of them have returned to their homeland.

• Four years ago, the only freedom many Afghans could imagine was the chaos of fratricidal warfare; the only stability they could envision was that of oppressive authoritarianism. Today, Afghans are daring once more to dream of a peaceful and prosperous country, and they are building that country of their dreams.

Afghanistan has made amazing progress in the last four years, but we cannot forget that serious challenges remain:

First, many of the four million Afghans who have returned to their homeland require continued substantial support.  Many of them have returned to damaged homes, many live in unsanitary conditions, many still lack access to even the most basic health care and education.

Second, some two and a half million Afghans still remain in Pakistan, and almost a million in Iran. These men and women have lived for years outside of their homeland. In fact, as many as half of the Afghans in Pakistan were born there, and thus have little or no experience of Afghanistan. Encouraging this remaining refugee population to return will require ingenuity and continued assistance from the international community. 

Third, the focus of much of the world community appears to be shifting from humanitarian assistance in Pakistan and Iran to development assistance in Afghanistan.  While this is in many respects a welcome shift, we must not neglect the very real needs remaining in countries of asylum.  The impact of this massive displacement on the hosting countries has been enormous.

Finally, the issue of regulating population movements to and from Afghanistan requires serious consideration.  Flight from violence and persecution is no longer the principal cause of migration from Afghanistan. And a recent IOM study found that some 200,000 individuals crossed the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, in both directions, in one two-week period, the majority of them without ever showing documentation. New arrangements must take into account the reality of population movement in South Asia.

To address these challenges, I believe the following goals should guide us now and in the future:

First, Continue to support gradual and voluntary repatriation.  UNHCR has helped 450,000 refugees return to Afghanistan this year, and is planning for as many as 600,000 returns in 2006.  We must continue to support this process. As we do so, however, we should uphold UNHCR's traditional protection Dictums: returns must remain voluntary and gradual, and refugees and returnees must be treated with dignity.

Second, the sustainability of returns.   We must continue to invest in the development of Afghanistan, to help returnees integrate and to encourage remaining refugees to repatriate.  We should redouble our efforts in Afghanistan's border areas, in particular, since this is where the majority of the remaining refugees originated.

Third, Assess needs of refugee-impacted areas in host countries.   UNHCR and UNDP are conducting important needs assessments in border areas of Pakistan that should form the basis for future development assistance to all of the people, Pakistanis and Afghans alike.

Fourth, Normalize population movement to and from Afghanistan.   People cross the border, in both directions, for many reasons: economic factors, family visitation, and longstanding seasonal migration.  Given the volume of this traffic, Afghanistan and its neighbors should devise methods to manage this migration, taking into account the expertise of organizations like IOM that have long experience with this issue.

Five, Support the registration of Afghans in Pakistan. This is an important step in managing the Afghan population.  The registration should be linked to the development of host communities.

In conclusion, I will admit that this is an ambitious agenda. But, as I said earlier, we can take inspiration from all that has already been achieved in and around Afghanistan.  I ask all of you to remain engaged and active in this process. The keys to our ultimate success will be the following:

• Continued patience on the part of countries of asylum;
• Ongoing donor support for repatriation of Afghans and reconstruction of Afghanistan;
• A new focus on development in refugee impacted areas of countries of asylum; and
• The continued patience and courage of the Afghan refugees themselves.

Once again, I thank all of you for attending, and I look forward to a useful and substantive discussion.