Background

The October 2007 meeting of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) in Kabul endorsed a proposal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to organize an International Conference on Return and Reintegration to Afghanistan, to be jointly chaired by MoFA and UNHCR. The Conference was conceived of primarily in response to the re-emergence of population movements from Afghanistan as a source of regional tension. Its focus will be addressing the range of political, security, and economic factors to enhance the future sustainability of return and reintegration. The conference will be held in Kabul on 19 November 2008 and will be co-chaired by Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Ministerial-level participation will be encouraged.

Purpose and Objectives

A key aim of the conference is to reconcile the repatriation targets and time lines proposed by the neighbouring countries with the increasingly challenging operational environment in Afghanistan. With respect to outcomes, it is anticipated that the presentation of the Medium Term (2008-2013) Sector Strategy for Refugees, Returnees, and IDPs within the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) will provide a substantive policy, technical, and financial framework around which all stakeholders can converge and arrive at a workable compromise.

From 2002-2006 over 5 million Afghan refugees returned home voluntarily from Iran and Pakistan. But the return dynamics are now changing with various push factors becoming increasingly influential. More than 80% of the population has been in exile for almost three decades and 50% were born outside their parent’s homeland. Decisions on return have become more complicated. Pressures in host countries have to be offset against deteriorating security and limited economic opportunities in Afghanistan. Furthermore, Afghans continue to cross into the neighbouring countries in increasingly large numbers seeking economic and social opportunities.
The ANDS sector strategy for Refugees, Returnees and IDPs recognizes that changing circumstances (both positive and negative) in Afghanistan will influence future return patterns over the period 2008-2013. It also emphasizes that sustainable reintegration in both rural and urban areas can only be achieved by investments in many sectors – agriculture, livelihoods, housing, education and training, water and sanitation. It proposes an intensification of support for national programmes and interventions in areas of actual and potential high return. Such initiatives will play a significant role in the effort to support voluntary and durable repatriation.

Maintaining a substantial repatriation flow remains a priority for the neighboring countries (Iran, Pakistan). As return figures have declined, the refugee issue has increasingly become a source of bilateral tension. The conference will provide an opportunity to craft a new compromise between the neighboring countries’ ambitions for comprehensive and rapid repatriation and Afghanistan’s absorption capacity.

The prospects for sustainable return and reintegration in future will be significantly influenced by Afghanistan’s security circumstances and overall economic and social development progress. It is clear that humanitarian assistance actors and funding can have only limited impact on building greater absorption capacity. Hence the importance of a more comprehensive, integrated approach and multi-annual funding delivered through the national development strategy and programmes. Accordingly, the Conference will be an opportunity to determine how additional resources for existing programs within the framework of the ANDS might be mobilized.