Afghan diaspora

Not to be confused with Pashtun diaspora.
Afghan Diaspora
Languages
Pashto, other Languages of Afghanistan and the languages spoken in the respective country of residence.
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam and Shia Islam with small communities of Baha'is, Christians and Jews

Afghan diaspora or Afghan immigrants are citizens of Afghanistan who have emigrated to other countries, or people of Afghan origin who are born outside Afghanistan. Traditionally the borders in between Afghanistan and its neighboring states have been fluid and vague. Like many nations created by European empires the borders often do not follow ethnic divisions and many ethnic groups and tribes native to Afghanistan are found on both sides of present day international borders.[1] This meant that historically there was much movement across present day barriers.[1]

However ever since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan refugees have fled into the surrounding states. After the Soviets left, civil war, Taliban conquest and most recently the Western-led invasion have meant constant warfare in Afghanistan. Millions have fled the violence, then in times of relative peace returned only to flee again when renewed fighting broke out. About six million Afghan refugees have fled to neighboring Pakistan (mainly NWFP) and Iran, making Afghanistan the largest refugee-producing country in the world, a title it has held for 32 years.[2] 95% of Afghan refugees are located in either Iran or Pakistan.[2] Some NATO countries that were part of the NATO forces took in refugees or Afghans that worked with their respective forces.[3] Ethnic minorities, like Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, often fled to India.[4]

In 2013, more than 2.8 million Afghan refugees were living in Iran with only 0.8 million of them being registered as legal migrants and rest living as illegal refugees in Iran. Similarly 1.5 million officially registered Afghan refugees were reported to be living in Pakistan in addition to approximately one million more illegal refugees.[5][6]

In December 2014 there was a terrorist attack on a school in Peshewar by the Pakistani Talaban and over 100 school children were killed. A few Afghans were involved. Following the attack Afghan refugees in Pakistan began to encounter serious harassment and often were told to return to Afghanistan. There was a mass exodus of tens of thousands of refugees which as of February 2015 was ongoing.[7]

As shown in the table below, the refugees (both legal and illegal) fled Afghanistan in four main waves:[5][8]


Country/Region Soviet war in Afghanistan (1978-89) Civil War (1992–96) Taliban Rule (1996–2001) War in Afghanistan (2001–present) - Present
Iran Iran 3,100,000 [9] 2,800,000 [5][10] [A 1]
Pakistan Pakistan 3,100,000 [9] 2,500,000 [5][6][A 2]
United Arab Emirates UAE 300,000 [11] [A 3]
Germany Germany 126,334 [12] [A 4]
United States United States 90,000 [13] [A 5]
United Kingdom United Kingdom 56,000 [14] [A 6]
Australia Australia 19,416 [15] [A 7]
Denmark Denmark 15,854 [16] [A 8]
India India 18,000 [17] [A 9]
Canada Canada 4,215 [18] [A 10] 5,390 [18] [A 11] 10,320 [18] [A 12] 16,240 [18] [A 13]
Sweden Sweden 6,904 [19] [A 14]
Tajikistan Tajikistan 1161 [20] 15,336 [20] 3,427 [20] [A 15]
Qatar Qatar 2,600 [21] [A 16]
Syria Syria 1,750 [22] [A 17]
Turkey Turkey 300 [23] [A 18]


Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan in 2004
Afghan refugees, living on the Canal Saint Martin, underneath a bridge 2010

Annotations

  1. ↑ 2013
  2. ↑ 2013
  3. ↑ 2012
  4. ↑ 2009 Census
  5. ↑ 2011 Census
  6. ↑ 2009
  7. ↑ 2006 census
  8. ↑ 2006 census
  9. ↑ 2011 news report
  10. ↑ 2006 census
  11. ↑ 2006 census
  12. ↑ 2006 census
  13. ↑ 2006 census
  14. ↑ 2007
  15. ↑ 2003 news report
  16. ↑ 2012 news report
  17. ↑ 2013 UNHCR report
  18. ↑ 2005 UNHCR report


Bibliography

Notes
References