Background: Currently in Afghanistan there are 1.3 million people who are refugees, asylum
seeker, or internally displaced persons. More specifically, there are around 500,000 internally
displaced persons, IDP’s, due to the conflicts of war, natural disasters, and poverty. Of these
450,000 people, 161,000 of them were just displaced in 2011 alone. This shows that the rate of
people becoming internally displaced is rapidly increasing. Along with people becoming
internally displaced within Afghanistan there has also been refugees from Iran and Pakistan that
are returning to Afghanistan. Statistics show that since 2002 around 5.7 million refugees have
returned to Afghanistan from other countries. When it comes to natural disasters, in 2011 the
huge drought that occurred devastated the people of Afghanistan. Due to this drought, around 2.6
million people were lacking an adequate supply of food to support them and their families. The
main reason, however, for the continued increase of refugees in Afghanistan is the conflicts that
are occurring there. Recently ISAF and the Afghan forces have created military campaigns to
fight an armed insurgency within the country. Between getting involved or displaced due to this
and/ or getting caught up in the Afghan Local Police or other community defense forces, many
people are facing internal displacement. Another problem with all of this conflict is that it is
making the nation have less security. Then, with less security it is harder for humanitarian aid to
be delivered to the country or for organizations to come and actually help the refugees. Dealing
with these refugees and IDPs is a very serious problem because there is currently no legal
framework in Afghanistan that discusses how to help these people and deal with this issue. Also,
when trying to resettle these people the conflict of land disputes arises. Many of these people are
refugees or displaced due to land dispute, but there has not been sufficient facilities or means to
be able to settle these disputes so far. In order to solve these problem thus far, the UNHCR has
been working with the Afghanistan National Development Strategy, which was created in 2010,
in order to increase stability and security in the country.
UN Involvement: The United Nations started taking more initiative when it comes to refugees in
Afghanistan in 2009, but the majority of the concern has taken place more recently. As of 2011,
more refugees have been returning to Afghanistan and more and more people are becoming
internally displaced. That is why most of the efforts of the UNHCR, when it comes to this
conflict, have been made during the last couple of years. In September of 2009, the UNHCR
released the Afghanistan Situation Operational Update, which described the current status of the
nation and the efforts that have been made by the UN to help regain stability and reintegrate the
refugees. In May of 2012 the head of the UNHCR tried to get member states to support a new
solutions strategy to help with this issue. This strategy was created by the joint efforts of
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and the UNHCR. This was discussed at the Geneva Conference held
in May 2012. Also, as of this year, the UNHCR has been working with the Afghanistan National
Development Strategy and the UN Integrated Strategic Framework. Their main goal is dedicate
efforts towards the voluntary repatriation of the IDPs and refugees, which can only be done
through sustainable reintegration. Resolutions, like A/RES/49/173, have been created in the past
to address the overall problem of refugees. This resolution was passed in February of 1995, and
it deals with addressing the need for the UNHCR to continue placing its focus on refugees and
IDPs. Then in 2001, the Security Council passed resolution 1378, and this dealt with the situation
in Afghanistan. However, when addressing the need for political stability and structure within
Afghanistan, the resolution also addressed the need for the return of refugees and the need to
help reintegrate them back into society.
Bloc Positions:
Western Bloc: The Western Bloc is usually the most helpful when it comes to providing aid and
humanitarian and economic assistance to refugees. Countries in this bloc should focus on past
ways they have helped with refugee crises and new ways to help that are specific to refugees in
Afghanistan. They also should see if their country has any plans on reintegration processes for
refugees.
Asian Bloc: Asian bloc should focus on their continued efforts to give aid to refugees. Have
problems with refugees, especially in Myanmar and Nepal, can use experience from this to help
with ideas for refugees in Afghanistan.
African Bloc: Experiences much of the same issues as Afghanistan is facing when it comes to
internal conflicts and IDP’s and refugees. They are not able to help much when it comes to these
issues because of their focus on their own problems. Once again, experience with this issue in
own country can be used to help come up with possible solutions in this committee.
Latin American Bloc: Like Afghanistan deals with IDP’s and returning refugees. These countries
are not able to offer much aid to Afghanistan but can provide insight and solutions based on own
experiences.
Middle Eastern Bloc: These countries are close to Afghanistan, which means that they are
concerned with the refugees entering their own borders. Also, they are involved because the
refugees that are returning to Afghanistan are coming from countries like Iran and Pakistan. The
countries that are bordering Afghanistan have been working with Afghanistan and UNHCR
when it comes to this problem as well.
Questions to Consider:
*Countries should not focus on education or awareness as a main solution, as most countries are
aware of the problem of refugees
-What has your country done to deal with problems of refugees in the past?
-Does your country have a direct problem with refugees? Have they in the past?
-What are your countries views on reintegration?
-Should third-country resettlement be an option?
-How can security and safety be increased when it comes to refugees? (Protection from natural
disasters and internal conflicts)
-How should Afghanistan deal with the large amounts of refugees that are returning to their
country?
-How have outside/bordering countries reacted to the problem of refugees in Afghanistan?
(Specifically Iran and Pakistan)
- Why are refugees returning to Afghanistan? Why are some not?