Economic collapse in Afghan; millions flee to Iran

            The third of February According to The New York Times, from October 2021 to the end of January 2022, more than a million Afghans migrated to Iran as the war-torn country’s economy crumbled, citing academics.

According to the study, relief organisations estimate that 4,000 to 5,000 individuals cross into Iran each day.

Though many are fleeing due to the current economic hardship, the threat of long-term Taliban rule – including restrictions on women and concerns of vengeance – has only heightened their desperation.

“There’s an exponential growth in the number of individuals leaving Afghanistan using this route, especially given how difficult this travel is in the winter months”, said David Mansfield, an Afghan migration researcher.

The flight has sparked concern across the region and in Europe, where politicians fear a repetition of the 2015 migrant crisis, when over a million people, largely Syrians, sought shelter in Europe, sparking a populist reaction.

Many fear that when temperatures increase and snow-covered roads become simpler to travel, a flood of Afghans may arrive at the European Union’s borders this spring.

The European Union, determined to keep migrants out of the area, donated more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and neighbouring nations housing Afghan refugees last October, according to the New York Times.