Refugees Contribute 10 Percent to Afghan Gross Domestic Income

A newly released report by the World Bank says that about 16% of Afghan families have at least one relative working abroad who sends money home.

 The report says the refugees send money to their families in Afghanistan which has helped in the economic development of the country, TOLO News reported. 

According to a World Bank report, the Afghan government needs to develop a comprehensive policy so as to ensure migrant workers are legal workers.

It says that each year 400,000 new workers enter Afghanistan’s job market, but only 200,000 find work and the rest have two options: to seek work abroad, or start a business.  

 The report stated that many Afghans who go abroad in search of work are illegal and work for little money. 

Despite this, the money Afghans send home accounts for up to 10% of the country’s annual gross domestic income. 

“The refugees and repatriation ministry’s assessments show that $7 billion was injected into Afghanistan’s economy by refugees in one year. We have plans for legal migrations and have considered legal migrations in the ministry’s policies and strategies,” said Hafiz Ahmad Meyakhil, media advisor to refugees and the repatriation ministry. 

 The Word Bank suggested that if the Afghan government develops an effective migration policy and helps the people find work legally outside the country, they will find better jobs and will play a bigger role in contributing to Afghan economic growth. 

 According to the report, currently Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries are the best options for Afghans in terms of finding legal and better paying jobs.

 “This outline (legal migrations) can help us a lot to enter into dialogue with new plans. In the past we had discussions with United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The (dialogue) doors were open for us and now also we can continue our negotiations. But the problem is that this is a long-term process and we cannot expect immediate outcomes,” Abdul Fatah Eshrat Ahmadzai, spokesman for Afghan Refugees and Repatriation Ministry said. 

Afghanistan’s population is estimated to reach 56 million by 2050 and as the population increases, migration for economic purposes will also increase. 

The World Bank report highlights that currently the number of Afghan refugees outside the country is 4.8 million. According to the report, from 1990 onward, 95% of migrations were mainly fueled by the political and war crisis, but since 2015, economic problems have also driven migration.