Experts: Number of people fleeing Afghanistan on the rise

KABUL — The number of people fleeing violence in Afghanistan is rising again, according to expert observers.

Those with an education are trying to get scholarships or investments and get to neighbouring countries or Turkey, according to

Thomas Ruttig from Kabulbased think tank Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Many others are trying to make their way to Iran.

In some cases, entire convoys have set off, sometimes even with army and police vehicles in tow.

Migration from Afghanistan to Turkey via Iran is also said to be on the rise.

The Turkish province of Van, which borders Iran, is full of migrants from Afghanistan, according to Mehmet Karatas, head of the human rights association IHD in the province.

He told dpa he could confirm media reports that an estimated 1,000 migrants cross the border every day.

Ruttig says those fleeing Afghanistan are war refugees, even if some claim to want a better life when questioned by authorities. The fact this is not possible in Afghanistan is a result of more than 40 years of war, he says.

The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated recently.

Since international troops began withdrawing in early May, Taliban militants have seized about a quarter of the country’s districts and entered several provincial capitals.

In several provinces, militias are now assisting the security forces, and observers fear the country could drift into another civil war.