VOICES OF THE DISPLACED: IDENTIFYING LASTING SOLUTIONS THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF IDPS IN AFGHANISTAN

This paper explores potential lasting solutions to the crisis of internal displacement in Afghanistan as identified by Internally Displace People (IDPs) in the country. The arguments are based on interviews with IDPs, Afghanistan’s government officials as well as local and international humanitarian aid providers. Empirical findings indicates that while war had been the main cause of internal displacement in Afghanistan, drought, natural disasters, and a lack of income-generating opportunities also contributed to this complex problem. This situation has caused loss of dignity, poverty and suffering among IDPs across the country. Although various phases of the long Afghan war had caused internal displacement over the past four and a half decades, failure to find lasting solutions to displacement contributed to continued displacement, suffering and to war. We argue that local and international responses to the IDPs problem in Afghanistan have been inadequate, uncoordinated, focused on ‘short-termism’, and have lacked a long-term vision. We conclude that lasting solutions to the crisis require a combination of sustainable peace, inclusive state institutions, strong political will from the international community and from Afghanistan’s ruling authorities as well as targeted development aid. Such efforts must support the dignified return of IDPs and their reintegration into their places of origin, or their permanent settlement in the communities where they currently live.