Afghan diaspora

Afghan diaspora refers to Afghan people who live outside of Afghanistan. These include citizens who have immigrated to other countries, or people of Afghan origin who are born outside Afghanistan. This does not include historical immigration to the Indian subcontinent (see Pashtun diaspora). The vast majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees of war since the start of the Soviet-Afghan War in 1979; the largest numbers reside in Iran and Pakistan, together hosting over 2 million Afghans of which most have been resident ever since the Soviet-Afghan War.[27] Apart from these, the largest communities exist in the United States, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Not to be confused with Pashtun diaspora.
Afghan diaspora
Regions with significant populations
 Iran2.5 million (2015 estimate) Afghans in Iran[1]
 Pakistan1.3 million Afghans in Pakistan[2]
 Germany260,000 (2018) Afghans in Germany[3]
 United Arab Emirates300,000 Afghan expatriates in the UAE[4]
 United States156,000+ (2017 ACS) Afghan Americans[5]
 Russia150,000 Afghans in Russia[6]
 Turkey120,500 Afghans in Turkey[7]
 Canada83,995 (2016) Afghan Canadians[8]
 United Kingdom79,000 (2019) Afghans in the UK[9]
 Netherlands44,000 (2015) Afghans in the Netherlands[10]
 Australia46,800 Afghan Australians by birth (2016)[11]
 Austria45,259 (2018) Afghans in Austria[12]
 Sweden58,780 (2016) Afghans in Sweden[13]
 Ukraine20,000 (2001) Afghans in Ukraine[14]
 Denmark18,379 (2017) Afghans in Denmark
 Indonesia13,600 (2019) Afghans in Indonesia[15]
 India12,000-18,000 Afghans in India[16][17][18]
 Israel10,000[19] (History of the Jews in Afghanistan)
 Finland9,667 Afghans in Finland
 Qatar3,500 Afghans in Qatar[20]
 New Zealand3,414 Afghans in New Zealand[21]
 Japan3,125 Afghans in Japan[22]
 Tajikistan3,000+ Afghans in Tajikistan[23]
 Malaysia1,100+ Afghans in Malaysia[24]
 Uzbekistan1,000+ Afghans in Uzbekistan[25]
 Romania500
 Ecuador300-2,500[26]
Languages
Dari and Pashto or languages spoken in the respective country of residence
Religion
c. 99% Islam followed by c. 1% other religions

Traditionally, the borders between Afghanistan and its southern and eastern neighboring countries have been fluid and vague.[28] Like other nations that were created by European empires, the borders of Afghanistan with neighboring countries often do not follow ethnic divisions, and several native ethnic groups are found on both sides of Afghanistan's border. This means that historically there was much movement across present day barriers.[29]

History

After the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, refugees fled to neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Some rural Afghan refugees began returning to their homeland in 1992, but the outbreak of a major civil war after the mujahideen took over control of Kabul and the other major cities meant that Afghans again began fleeing to neighboring countries, this time many being urbanites. Afghan Sikhs and Afghan Hindus journeyed to India.[30]

Since March 2002, most Afghan refugees have been repatriated to Afghanistan with UNHCR's assistance.[31] Around 1.3 million still remain in Pakistan,[32] while 2.5 million are in Iran.[1] Several countries that were part of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have granted permanent residency to smaller number of Afghans that worked with their respective forces.[33] Afghan natives now reside in at least 78 countries around the world.[34]

Some Afghans returning from Pakistan often complain that "they have been beaten and slapped and told nobody in Pakistan wants them anymore."[35] Still, many refugees regard Pakistan as their home.[36] Returnees from Iran experience similar or worst punishments.[37] A number of returnees to Afghanistan make new journeys to the European Union (EU) to seek asylum there.[37] To abide by United Nations Convention against Torture, the Pakistani government has agreed that no Afghan refugee would be forcefully removed from their country. Under a new agreement between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNHCR, the Afghans in Pakistan were officially allowed to remain until the end of 2017.[32] In June of 2019, Pakistan's cabinet decided to extend the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards of Afghan refugees until 30 June 2020.[38] The Afghans in Iran have also been given extended time.[39][40][41]

Disapora around the world

Pakistan and Iran
Main articles: Afghans in Pakistan and Afghans in Iran

India
See also: Pathans in India

In India, there are at least 3.2 million Pashtuns, most of whom trace their origins back to Afghan migrants during the British Indian colonial period. Many of these live in Rohilkhand in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, and Kolkata. See Pathans in India.[42]

Regarding contemporary migrants, about 12,000 to 18,000 Afghan refugees reside in India, mostly around Delhi.[17][16]

Central Asia and Russia

Thousands of Afghans, mostly refugees, live in Central Asia, particularly in Tajikistan where almost 3,000 Afghan citizens are registered refugees in that country. Hundreds are also known to be elsewhere such as in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.[23]

Afghan refugees also came to Uzbekistan during the 1990s and there were about 10,000 in the country in 1999. After the Taliban fall, the number of refugees dropped and reached about 2,500 by 2005.[43] The Afghan diaspora in Tashkent is about 1,000 people in 2017.[25]

150,000 Afghans are known to reside in Russia, a third of them in Moscow.[44]

Middle East

Excluding Iran, many thousands of Afghans are known to reside in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Around 150,000 live in the UAE where many work in the fields of construction and agriculture, and as business people in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.[45] A large number of Afghan refugees also reside in Turkey.[46]

Europe

Germany has the largest Afghan community in Europe numbering some 257,000 in 2018.[47] Elsewhere large communities exist in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark and Sweden.[48]

Between 1992 and 2002, Germany received the highest asylum requests from Afghans in the European Union, a total of 57,600. The Netherlands received 36,500, the United Kingdom received 29,400, Austria received 25,800, Denmark received 7,300 and Sweden received 3,100. All other countries in the (pre-2004) EU received less than 2,000 asylum requests each from Afghan people.[49]

Large numbers also arrived during the migrant crisis in the mid to late 2010s, especially to Germany, Sweden and Austria.[50]

About 20,000 Afghans lived in Ukraine as of 2001, 15,000 of them in Kiev and remaining in the Dnieper region.[51]

North America

The United States has one of the largest overseas Afghan populations. In Canada, over 80,000 Afghans are known to reside in the country in 2016.[52]

East and SE Asia

3,248 Afghan people are known to reside in Japan in 2018.[22]

In China, there are Afghan traders based in the international trade city of Yiwu.[53]

About 13,600 refugees are based in Indonesia in 2019.[15]

See also

References
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  2. https://unhcrpk.org/unhcr-welcomes-new-government-policy-for-afghans-in-pakistan
  3. Leubecher, Marcel (15 April 2019). "In Deutschland leben so viele Ausländer wie noch nie. Wo kommen sie her?". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  4. Shahbandari, Shafaat (November 30, 2012). "Afghans take hope from UAE's achievements". Gulf News. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  5. "2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates: Afghan". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  6. "Moscow's 'Little Kabul'". Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. 25 December 2017.
  7. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (10 February 2017). "UNHCR Turkey: Afghan Persons of Concern | Afghan Refugees and Asylum Seekers registered with UNHCR (January 2017)".
  8. Statistics Canada (2006). "Immigrant population by place of birth and period of immigration (2006 Census)". Statistics Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  9. "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2019 to December 2019". Office for National Statistics. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals.
  10. Smouter, Karel. "Dit is het Nederland van 44.000 Afghanen".
  11. "2016 QuickStats Country of Birth". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  12. "Bevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit und Geburtsland". 18 May 2018.
  13. "Foreign-born persons by country of birth, age, sex and year". Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  14. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/881540.html
  15. A Taliban escapee, an English baby - and the dramatic story that followed, BBC
  16. "Afghan refugees in search of Indian identity". UNHCR. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  17. "Tough times follow Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban to Delhi". The Indian Express. Associated Press. July 24, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  18. June 22, 2017. Retrieved 2019-05-01
  19. Arbabzadah, Nushin (28 February 2012). "The story of the Afghan Jews is one of remarkable tolerance". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  20. Snoj, Jure (18 December 2013). "Population of Qatar by nationality". bq magazine. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017.
  21. "2013 Census ethnic group profiles". archive.stats.govt.nz.
  22. 法務省:在留外国人統計（旧登録外国人統計）統計表
  23. , Voices on Central Asia https://voicesoncentralasia.org/refugees-from-%D1%81entral-asia-and-in-central-asia/ Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/afghan-refugees-in-malaysia-find-hope-in-theatre-of-the-oppressed-10068
  25. Afghanistan's Ghani Visits Uzbekistan on Mission to Plug Into Central Asia, Eurasianet, December 5, 2017
  26. "Los afganos latinoamericanos | TRT Español". www.trt.net.tr.
  27. Afghan refugees in Iran & Pakistan, European Resettlement Network
  28. "The Durand line: History, Consequences, and Future" (PDF). Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  29. Carberry (2013)
  30. Bose, Nayana (March 10, 2006). "Afghan refugees in India become Indian, at last". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  31. UNHCR (November 2016). "Voluntary Repatriation Update" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  32. UNHCR (7 February 2017). "UNHCR welcomes new government policy for Afghans in Pakistan".
  33. Stainburn, Samantha (May 22, 2013). "UK, Denmark to give Afghan interpreters visas". GlobalPost. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  34. Braakman, Marije. Roots and Routes: Questions of Home, Belonging and Return in an Afghan Diaspora (PDF) (MA).
  35. Goldstein, Joseph (February 23, 2015). "Refugees Are Pushed to Exits in Pakistan". The New York Times. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  36. "Feature: Afghan refugees regard Pakistan as home - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  37. Goldstein, Joseph (September 13, 2015). "For $14.50, Afghan Refugees Make a Desperate Bet on a Way Out". The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  38. "UNHCR welcomes Pakistan cabinet's decision to extend stay of Afghan refugees". UNHCR PAKISTAN. 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  39. Strickland, Patrick (May 17, 2016). "Why are Afghan refugees leaving Iran?". al-Jazeera.
  40. Hajimohammadi, Abbas; Dulai, Shaminder, eds. (6 November 2014). "Photos: The Life of Afghan Refugees in Tehran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  41. "Iran: Afghan Refugees and Migrants Face Abuse". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  42. Ali, Arshad (15 February 2018). "Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan's great granddaughter seeks citizenship for 'Phastoons' in India". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 21 February 2019. Interacting with mediapersons on Wednesday, Yasmin, the president of All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind, said that there were 32 lakh Phastoons in the country who were living and working in India but were yet to get citizenship.
  43. Uzbekistan Gives Afghans No Reason to Stay, IWRP, November 20, 2005
  44. Moscow's 'Little Kabul', RFE/RL, December 25, 2017
  45. UAE is our haven: The Afghan community, Khaleej Times
  46. Destination Unknown: Afghans on the move in Turkey - Middle East Research Report, June 2020, ReliefWeb, June 2020
  47. https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/464108/umfrage/auslaender-aus-afghanistan-in-deutschland/
  48. A Guide to Afghan Diaspora Engagement in Europe (PDF), VIDC Global Dialogue, March 2020
  49. Aurin Fouraschen (August 2011), Afghan Dutch or Dutch Afghan?, University of Tilburg
  50. Migrants Protest Kabul, Stockholm Move To Deport Failed Asylum Seekers, 5 December 2015
  51. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/881540.html
  52. "Ethnic origin population". statcan. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  53. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/glob.12272

Further reading
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