Almost six million Afghans remain internally displaced: IOM

The International Organization of Migration (IOM) said in its latest report that currently almost six million Afghans are internally displaced, of which 4,442,933 are displaced due to conflict (76%) and 1,389,521 are displaced due to natural disasters (24%).

IOM stated in its latest report, issued Saturday, that Herat province, which hosts the most, currently has just under one million IDPs.

According to the report, 2021 was one of the worst years for the people and that 1.3 million Afghans were displaced internally last year alone.

“In 2021, an unprecedentedly high number of individuals were
displaced nationwide,” read the report.

IOM “estimates over 1.3 million Afghans fled their homes as IDPs in 2021. Sixty-two per cent of these IDPs displaced because of the conflict escalation due to international troop withdrawal over the summer months, which subsequently led to a rapid change of government”.

The IOM stated that over four million people have left Afghanistan in the past 11 years and that conflict and economic issues are the biggest reasons for people leaving Afghanistan and that most of the people cross borders into neighboring countries.

This latest report comes as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) continues to call on Afghans who fled the country amid the foreign troop withdrawal in August last year to return home to help rebuild the country.