International efforts in Afghanistan: Lessons from a whole-of-government response and the creation of Provincial Reconstruction Teams
Afghanistan is one of the top countries of origin in today’s refugee crisis. According to UNHCR, Afghanistan is currently the second country of origin, with the Afghan refugee population estimated at 2.7 million at the end of 2015.1 Afghanistan has been a major country of origin for over 30 years and for most of this time was the country with the largest refugee population worldwide.2 According to some reports, an estimated 75% of Afghans are thought to have experienced some form of displacement at least once in their lifetimes.3 Afghans made up 20% of the more than one million arrivals by sea and by air into Europe in 2015.4 The intensified flow of forcibly displaced Afghans is related to sharp increases in violence. Despite more than 15 years of large-scale international efforts in Afghanistan, the country remains marred by weak rule of law, political fragility and persistent insecurity – circumstances that are likely to continue to discourage many Afghan refugees and migrants abroad to return home voluntarily.5 In 2015-16, the number of Afghans moving to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran increased sharply, but most of these did not “return” voluntarily.6 This large influx, when added to the more than one million internally displaced Afghans, may worsen the political, social and economic conditions in the country (see Figure 1).7 UNHCR in particular has raised concerns about the pace of returns in 2016 and has said it “does not promote refugee returns to Afghanistan given the enduring conflict in different parts of the country and its limited absorption capacity”.