Aftermath of war

Turkey's policy of providing access to education, health, and social opportunities to refugees is "very positive," the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) chief said in southeastern Turkey on Sept. 10.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, "is grateful for its strong partnership" with Turkey, an official said on Sept. 8. 

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Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, arrived in Turkey for a working visit on Sept. 7 and was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday.

We are all witnessing the dramatic events affecting Afghanistan and the tragic uncertainty that so many Afghan citizens feel for the future of their country, which currently counts 3 million displaced persons, 550,000 of whom were displaced in 2021.

Yet help is just 500 metres away: on the Polish side, a group of activists has been on standby for days, bringing bags with food, water, medicines and thermal blankets (nights are now cold and it had been raining). But a line of Polish border guards constantly blocks access.

The UN refugee agency is gearing up for as many as half a million people or more to flee from Afghanistan in a "worst-case scenario" in the coming months, AP reports.

UNHCR says the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last week "remains uncertain and may evolve rapidly," with up to 515,000 new refugees fleeing.

Ljubljana – Interior Minister Aleš Hojs met via videolink on Wednesday Roland Sebastian Schilling, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for Central Europe. The pair discussed the situation in Afghanistan, including potential migration and security threats, the ministry said.

According to her, they all want to continue their journey to Western Europe, primarily Germany.

When foreign policy expert Kemal Kirişci warned of "a mass exodus of refugees fleeing Afghanistan could spark another migration crisis" in April, his research received little attention.

Now, as the Taliban completes a rapid takeover of the country following the US and NATO decision to withdraw, his predictions may have already started to materialise.

Nobody should consider Turkey as a refugee camp, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik said on Aug. 9, elaborating on recent discussions after Afghans started fleeing to Turkey.

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Relations between Brussels and Ankara - already strained by earlier crises over refugees - face an even bigger test as the number of Afghans fleeing westwards rapidly increases.