Labour Migration for Decent Work in Afghanistan: Issues and Challenges

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This publication addresses the issue of moving from a refugee and informal movement framework to a formal labour migration system in Afghanistan. It draws upon a variety of scattered sources of information to build up a picture of labour migration trends and profile in Afghanistan. Return of a large number of refugees close to six million in recent years, the continuing informal and irregular movements to Iran and Pakistan, and limited movements to the Gulf region are highlighted. There is high vulnerability of Afghan migrants in irregular status, and the economy is not able to sustain the large number of returnees and deportees from neighbouring countries.The paper discusses the role of remittances, return migration and diaspora engagement in promoting migration and development linkages.The paper reviews the institutional and legislative framework for labour migration, and protection and support services for migrant workers and the key challenges now and in the future. There are serious gaps in the labour migration governance and protection framework. There is weak capacity in the government machinery dealing with labour migration. It notes that Afghanistan lags far behind other Asian origin countries in the infrastructure required to promote formal labour migration operations.On the basis of the review, it identifies critical areas for improving policies for expansion of labour migration for decent work in Afghanistan - a key priority of the Afghan government.