Kabul: More than 6.5 million Afghans are refugees overseas as the conflict continues to drive the refugee crisis.

Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has said that over 6,500,000 million Afghans are refugees overseas, with an overwhelming majority settling in Iran and Pakistan.

On the occasion of the world refugee day, deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Reza Baher said that some 2.4 million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan and 2.5 million refugees are in Iran, some of whom are undocumented and illegal.

Based on its statistics, Europe hosts nearly half a million Afghan refugees, the United States and Australia accommodate 500,000 Afghan refugees and the United Arab Emirates has more than 500,000 of them.

Officials in the ministry congratulated refugees on this day and vowed unswerving effort to improve their living conditions.

In a report, the UN Refugee Agency has said that Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, South Sudan and Myanmar have two-third of the world’s refugee population.

Iran, which has been hosting millions of Afghan refugees over the past 40 years, has recently been accused of abusing the rights of refugees. In two immense violations of human rights in 2020, Iranian police and borders were accused of killing tens of Afghan migrants.

Also, the U.S. embassy in Kabul in a tweet vowed to stand with Afghan migrants “who have been abused, tortured and killed by Iranian authorities”. The embassy promised to provide 18 billion Afghans this year in humanitarian assistance to protect refugees, migrants and other vulnerable Afghans.

The World Refugee Day was first celebrated in 2001 and continues to be commemorated on June 20th in the face of challenges that continue to bedevil refugee populations all over the world.

http://www.afghanistantimes.af/afghanistan-has-6-5-million-refugees-overseas/