BRUSSELS (AP) – Afghanistan is not a safe place to send migrants, but the European Union should try to assist displaced people in the war-torn country or elsewhere in the region rather than waiting for them to arrive. gates of Europe, the bloc’s top migration official said on Wednesday.
“It is not possible to return people to Afghanistan these days. It’s not safe, ”Ylva Johansson, the Home Office commissioner, said in a video.
But he added that “it is important that we help these people in Afghanistan, when possible, to return to their homes. We also need to help neighboring countries and support Afghans and these neighboring countries in the region. ”
In a videoconference with the EU interior ministries, he commented that Europe “should not wait for people to stop at the external border. We need to help them first. It is also important that we help those under immediate threat to relocate to EU member states. “
Afghans are among the largest group of people from a single country to apply for international protection in Europe, after Syrians. According to some EU estimates, approximately 570,000 Afghans have applied for asylum in Europe since 2015.
Asylum claims from Afghans have risen by a third since February when it became clear that the United States would withdraw troops from Afghanistan. More than 4,648 applications were submitted in May, according to the EU asylum office. About half of the applications are usually approved.
The arrival of well over a million migrants in 2015, mostly from Syria and Iraq, sparked one of the biggest crises in the 27-nation bloc as countries argued over how best to deal with the flow. The infighting continues today, and tensions are likely to escalate with a new wave of migrants from Afghanistan.
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Associated Press journalist Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.