KABUL - The Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), H.E. Dr. Jamaher Anwari and Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador William Lacy Swing today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a framework of cooperation that will facilitate the implementation of activities aimed at enhancing the capacity of the MoRR, including the promotion of migrants’ rights, to provide services and assistance to returnees, internally-displaced persons, and particularly vulnerable groups - subject to the availability of resources. Print English - Dari - Fact sheet (English) - Fact sheet (Dari)

“As the world’s leading migration organization whose mandate is exclusively migration, IOM’s work has become increasingly critical in helping Afghanistan realize the full development potential of properly managed migration,” said Minister Anwari. “As migration continues to rise, we are working very closely with IOM to come up with techniques to manage migration better, in particular the passport and visa-issuing system that will allow Afghans to travel legally in the future.”

“Thanks to our strong partnership with the Afghan government institutions and contributions from funding countries, we have been able to implement a machine-readable passport and visa-issuing system; reduce the vulnerability of Afghans to displacement and migration; assist tens of thousands of Afghans return safely to their country and reintegrate into society; and help rebuild the nation after decades of conflict,” said Ambassador Swing.
“This year, IOM marks 20 years of uninterrupted service to the Afghan people. In an ever-changing political landscape, I confirm IOM’s full commitment to maintain its support to Afghanistan’s migration management capacity building efforts and urge the international community to enhance their support to migration matters in Afghanistan,” he added.

Despite significant progress, we face many challenges ahead. The voluntary and gradual return of very large numbers of undocumented Afghans from Iran and Pakistan will pose new challenges. The sustainable reintegration of these people will affect the overall stability of the country and its fragile economy and further impact migration dynamics in the sub-region.

Other priorities for Afghanistan include a large-scale public information campaign to inform Afghans of the risks of irregular migration, and increased investment in disaster-preparedness, including the establishment of sophisticated information management tools.

[Fact sheet attached]

For further information, please contact akhurana@iom.int or +93 793 206 076