Member States have met more than 85% of their commitments on the humanitarian readmission of Afghan refugees, the Commission said on 1 September, one year after Member States promised to resettle at least 40,000 people from Afghanistan.
Under the Support to Afghans at Risk Programme for 2021-2022, “Member States have submitted 37,111 pledges for resettlement and humanitarian admission combined, of which 36,000 places are for humanitarian admission and 1,111 for resettlement. For humanitarian admission, more than 85% of the commitments have been fulfilled, i.e. about 31,000 Afghans have arrived safely in the EU”, explains the Commission.
For Afghan refugee resettlements in the EU, the Commission noted that “only five arrivals of Afghans at risk have been reported so far by Member States”. Some 15 Member States volunteered to take in Afghan refugees in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power, with Germany alone pledging 25,000 places.
“The Commission encourages Member States to intensify the resettlement of displaced Afghan nationals in countries in the region and calls on Member States to make new commitments for 2023 by October this year”, it added in response to EUROPE. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)