Afghans, leaving in droves, say they see no future in their country

When most American troops departed Afghanistan in 2014 and the Obama administration helped install a unity government, it was supposed to set the country on a path toward self-sustainability after two decades of Taliban rule and foreign military intervention.

Instead, Afghans are escaping their country in some of the greatest numbers since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The loss of money and hundreds of thousands of jobs connected to the U.S. military presence has brought Afghanistan's economy to a halt and laid bare the weaknesses of the Afghan state. It also has galvanized Taliban insurgents, who briefly took over the northern city of Kunduz in the fall and have made gains in the southern province of Helmand against overstretched government forces.

The combination of unending violence and lack of economic opportunity has driven many Afghans to flee.

Afghans accounted for one-quarter of the more than 1 million refugees and migrants who arrived in Europe in 2015, the second-largest group after Syrians fleeing their country's civil war, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The exodus has continued even after the European Union decided last month to classify Afghans as economic migrants, significantly reducing their chances of gaining asylum.

Herat, an ancient trading city 75 miles from the Iranian border, has become a hub for Afghans beginning the risky journey along the migrant trail north to Europe.

Travel agencies offer to procure passports and visas for hundreds of dollars apiece. For those unable to pay for documents — or unwilling to wait — smuggling networks promise to deliver a traveler across the Iranian border for less than $1,000.

Near-daily reports of Taliban attacks have sparked a profound crisis of confidence, particularly among the young, educated Afghans whom the government was relying on to help rebuild the country. Among 1,711 newly arrived Afghans surveyed recently in Southern Europe by the International Organization for Migration, the average age was 24, and one-fifth had received a college education.

"People need to feed their families, and if they see migration as their only choice, that's what they will do," said Abdullah Ahmadzai, the Asia Foundation's country representative in Kabul, the Afghan capital. In an annual survey the group conducted last year, 40% of Afghans said they would leave the country if they had the chance — the highest figure since it began posing the question in 2011.

Afghanistan's economic growth slowed to 1.3% last year from an annual average of nearly 7% in previous years, according to the World Bank. A unity government brokered by Secretary of State John F. Kerry to resolve the disputed 2014 presidential election had to contend immediately with an economic transition for which U.S. and Afghan officials acknowledge there was inadequate planning.

American officials worry privately about the fate of the $32 billion the United States has spent on governance and development programs in Afghanistan since 2001. To stem the brain drain, the Afghan government has launched a social media campaign to persuade people not to leave, including pictures showing overcrowded rescue boats at sea to remind would-be migrants of the risk of drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. - Read More at the latimes
Afghans, leaving in droves, say they see no future in their country

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