International Migrants Day was marked in Kabul on Tuesday, which was attended by a number of government officials including Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, Refugees and Repatriation Minister Sayed Alemi Balkhi and United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Toby Lanzer.

Speaking at the event, Abdullah said in addition to other causes, the continued fighting in the last few decades has been one of the main reasons forcing many Afghans to leave their country for neighboring ones, or even further afield. 

Abdullah said addressing the problems and challenges of the returnees is a priority and one of the main tasks for the government. 

“In addition to other challenges and priorities we have, such as security, military issues, economic development and growth of Afghanistan economy, considering and paying attention to the migration phenomenon and migrants, returnees and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, is our main duty,” said Abdullah. 

Officials indicate that more than 6.5 million Afghans are living outside the country, of whom almost four million are migrants and nearly three million are asylum seekers. 

Refugees and Repatriation Minister Sayed Alemi Balkhi, also speaking at the event, said, “Addressing the needs, offering legal and humanitarian services to the returnees is one of our important priorities.” 

Statistics show in the last four years, more than three million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan and most of them were legal and illegal migrants who have returned from Pakistan and Iran. 

Toby Lanzer, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, meanwhile said, “Just this year we have had 750,000 people of Afghan origin return to Afghanistan from Iran. And that poses challenges for communities in Afghanistan, but also poses challenges for Iran itself."

In addition to the sharp increase in Afghan migrants, human trafficking has increased in the country during recent years. Relevant government departments have said they are trying to legalize these migrations and in their efforts have disbanded about 100 human trafficking groups while some remain under surveillance. 

Statistics show more than 68 million people in the world live outside their original countries as migrants.