[{"bbox": [83, 105, 1147, 255], "category": "Text", "text": "OCHA, 18.4 million Afghans are in humanitarian need, and more than a third of the population (14.1 million) is now facing emergency or crisis levels of food insecurity. Constrained humanitarian access and logistics – especially in remote and conflict-affected locations – are currently hindering more detailed needs assessments, thus preventing verification of the full extent of internal displacement and undermining the provision of assistance within Afghanistan. Still it can be anticipated that previously described displacement drivers will continue in 2021."}, {"bbox": [87, 276, 326, 307], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2. Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [83, 372, 1147, 430], "category": "Text", "text": "Issues concerning returnees and IDPs in Afghanistan are quite diverse but can be clustered in the following main categories, which are interlinked:"}, {"bbox": [83, 457, 1147, 669], "category": "Text", "text": "For the period 2012-2020, the IOM estimated the number of **internally displaced people** in Afghanistan to be around 4.9 million individuals, a major part of which are in prolonged (one to five years) or even protracted (over five years) situations. IDPs are mostly hosted by their extended family networks or close acquaintances; in some circumstances they have been compelled to settle in makeshift camps or urban informal settlements. The widespread poverty of the host communities, doubled with the strains of sharing limited resources with displaced groups, IDPs' limited access to basic services, precarious accommodation, and generally material and psychological hardship, continue to be the most important challenges for these segments of the population."}, {"bbox": [83, 684, 1147, 895], "category": "Text", "text": "Similar to the situation of IDPs, **Afghan returnees** face difficulties in reintegrating in Afghanistan, with limited access to basic social services and development opportunities. While the Taliban victory has the potential to improve the overall security situation for the moment, targeted persecution of minorities, women and political opponents, the current economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic might push more Afghans to flee their country. Meanwhile, the socio-economic situation in neighbouring countries is also dire, also in light of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. In Afghanistan, the living conditions are not favourable enough for a sustained return, and there is an increasing concern regarding possible reverse migration to the neighbouring countries and further afield."}, {"bbox": [83, 910, 1147, 1211], "category": "Text", "text": "In this context, children and women have especially suffered from growing insecurity, economic challenges and socioeconomic disparities in the recent years. Six in ten children aged 0-17 years are affected by multidimensional poverty¹². According to the Afghanistan's Education Management Information System data for Afghan fiscal year 1398 (December 2018 to December 2019), 10 million children were enrolled in school (about 3.8 million were girls)¹³. An estimated 3.7 million children do not attend school, 60% of whom were girls. Citing the 2016-17 Living Conditions Survey, the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) noted in its August 2020 report on key socio-economic indicators, based on a range of sources, ‘Most of the out-of-school children lived in rural areas while the attendance rates, particularly for women, were considerably higher in urban areas than in rural Afghanistan’¹⁴. In the event of a deteriorating security conditions and vast population movement, this category may end up arriving in urban areas, contributing to the number of out-of-school children."}, {"bbox": [83, 1240, 1147, 1511], "category": "Text", "text": "Running from conflict and driven by poverty or climate change, children and youth are among affected Afghans. Large numbers of Afghan youths are displaced in search of a better life abroad, hence, often in a vulnerable situation and in need of protection. Many risk being forced into exploitative work relations within Afghanistan. Some of these children and youth will seek employment in Iran as undocumented workers; others are migrants making the risky journey to Turkey or Europe. If detained, they are sent back to Afghanistan. Such returns pose significant risks for young people, who are often separated from their families. Alone and in limbo, they are an easy target for smugglers and human traffickers. Specifically **young migrants/refugees** face a situation with very limited economic perspective upon return, competing among an estimated 400 000 new entrants into a saturated labour market each year. This exacerbates the risk of continued migration pressure as much as the risk of vulnerability to radicalisation."}, {"bbox": [73, 1590, 442, 1616], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹² UNICEF Afghanistan Annual report 2019"}, {"bbox": [73, 1614, 387, 1639], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹³ Ministry of Education, Afghanistan"}, {"bbox": [73, 1638, 1101, 1663], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹⁴ EASO, ‘Afghanistan - Key socio-economic indicators. Focus on Kabul City, Mazar-e Sharif and Herat City’ August 2020"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1158, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 20"}]