This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be found on the UNHCR websites, www.unhcr.org and www.unhcr.fr, which should also be checked for regular media updates on non-briefing days.
The UN refugee agency and the Government of Switzerland are co-sponsoring a two-day international conference next week in Geneva on Afghan refugees.
As the Afghan refugee situation enters its fourth decade, there is a sense of asylum fatigue in host countries. A strategy to sustain international solidarity and burden-sharing is critically required to foster solutions and support host countries to maintain asylum space for refugees pending these solutions.
The “International Conference on the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees to Support Voluntary Repatriation, Sustainable Reintegration and Assistance to Host Countries” will take place on 2-3 May 2012 to discuss the reintegration of returnees in Afghanistan; capacity building and support to neighbouring countries, with a focus on community-based development.
Some three million Afghan refugees are still living outside their country following decades of conflict and unrest in Afghanistan, around 1.7 million in Pakistan and one million in Iran.
The gathering will urge the international community to sustain multi-year humanitarian and development support. Afghanistan and its neighbours need continuing international support to achieve lasting solutions for the displaced. Some 5.7 million Afghans have returned home since 2001, through UNHCR’s largest voluntary repatriation programme.
These refugees represent a significant proportion of Afghanistan’s total population, but many are experiencing difficulties in rebuilding their lives.
The conference is expected to endorse both a solutions strategy and the establishment of follow-up mechanisms for implementation.
Ministers from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran with delegates from the international community are participating in this conference.
Background information, press materials and other related material are available on the UNHCR website at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4f9016576.html.