New study reveals EU’s “staggering neglect” of Afghan refugees

LONDON – A global humanitarian aid and rescue organization has accused European countries of neglecting Afghan refugees and abandoning millions of them.

According to a new study by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), EU countries admitted only 271 Afghans in 2022.

This is in contrast to the big promises these countries made in 2021 when the Taliban captured Kabul.

They had identified 270,000 Afghans in need of permanent protection.

The report says various programs set up to bring Afghans to safety in Europe are failing to achieve their goals.

The IRC found that Afghans let down by these programs face major obstacles to obtaining permanent protection in the EU.

“The thousands of Afghans let down by these schemes face huge obstacles in reaching lasting protection in the EU,” the report said. 

The IRC has called on European countries to accept 42,500 Afghan refugees over the next five years.

The aid group has also called for more safe routes to be established and for existing ones to be expanded.

The report sharply criticizes governments for making promises and failing to deliver.

Germany has yet to take in a single person, despite launching a program last October to take in 1,000 Afghans a month.

Italy had promised to take in 1,200 Afghans. So far, however, it has taken in only half that number.

In 2021, 40% of those turned back from European borders were Afghans.

The report goes on to say that many Afghans remain trapped in remote and prison-like facilities on Greek islands.

They are denied inclusion in local communities, which has a devastating effect on their mental health.

92% of Afghans assisted by IRC suffered from anxiety and 86% from depression.

-Asylum applications dropped 

The report notes that the percentage of positive asylum applications for Afghans in the EU, Norway, and Switzerland dropped from 66% in 2021 to 54% in 2022.

According to David Miliband, president of the IRC, this August will mark two years since the shift in power in Afghanistan. 

“If EU states are serious about protecting Afghans, they need to urgently scale up safe pathways to Europe, and receive all Afghans seeking protection with dignity regardless of how they arrive on its territory,” he said. 

Laura Kyrke-Smith, Executive Director of IRC said, while the UK rightfully offered evacuation and protection to many Afghans during August 2021, its resettlement schemes have not delivered protection at scale since.

“Under the UK’s main scheme for at-risk and vulnerable Afghans, the Afghan Citizen’s Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), just 281 people arrived in the UK in the year ending March 2023. This is despite the UK originally promising to resettle 20,000 Afghans. The Scheme has been slow, unambitious, and inconsistent,” she said. 

More than 1.6 million Afghans have arrived in neighboring countries – 99% to Iran and Pakistan – since August 2021, and Afghans now represent the third largest refugee population globally.