The Taliban Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation announced on Wednesday that the bodies of 800 refugees have been repatriated from various countries in the past year.
Mohammad Arslan Kharoti, deputy minister for the Taliban Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation, has said that 2,900 citizens of Afghanistan who were victims of human trafficking were rescued and repatriated to Afghanistan.
Kharoti added that around 4,000 citizens of Afghanistan have been released from prisons in Pakistan and Iran and returned to Afghanistan. He mentioned that there are an estimated seven million refugees abroad and an additional three million internally displaced people.
During the past year, hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan have died in various incidents in other countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
After a ship carrying refugees sank off the coast of Italy, the Afghanistan embassy in that country announced that 91 citizens of Afghanistan died in the incident. Another ship carrying refugees sank off the coast of Greece, the embassy announced that a number of citizens of Afghanistan were among the dead, but did not provide specific statistics.
In addition, after the deadly earthquake in Turkey in February of this year, Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions announced that 200 citizens of Afghanistan died in the incident.
The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 has led to a significant increase in the number of refugees fleeing the country. Many fear persecution and revenge from the Taliban, and have been forced to take unsafe and illegal routes to reach Europe or other countries. This has often resulted in tragedy, with many refugees losing their lives.
