The report aims to provide relevant information for the purposes of the examination of applications for international protection. In particular, it is intended to inform the update of the chapter on Internal Protection Alternative within the Country Guidance on Afghanistan 2019 update.
During 2016, EASO initiated a pilot project to facilitate Member States’ cooperation on the development of country guidance notes on Afghanistan. In the context of this project, the need for updated information was identified on topics of relevance for the consideration of Internal Protection Alternative (IPA) in Afghanistan, with a focus on the cities of Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif. This choice of focus was also kept for the 2019 update of Country Guidance on Afghanistan.
After providing some background information on these three cities and discussing their accessibility, the report looks into several socio-economic indicators. The information is provided for the country as a whole, and where available for the three cities separately. Additional attention is paid to specific vulnerable groups such as IDPs, returnees, women and children.
The following national asylum and migration departments are co-drafters of this report:
- Finland, Finnish Immigration Service, Legal Service and Country Information Unit
- Romania, General Inspectorate for Immigration
The following national asylum and migration departments contributed by reviewing this report:
- Denmark, Danish Immigration Service
- Netherlands, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office of Country Information and Language Analysis
- Luxembourg, Ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes, Service Réfugiés
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reviewed the report.
Furthermore, an external expert review was carried out by Fabrizio Foschini, political analyst with the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
The drafting of this report was finalised on 31 December 2018. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this report.
This report was written according to the EASO COI Report Methodology.
Policy
The general security situation in Afghanistan is largely determined by a long-term, ongoing, internal armed conflict which has resulted in many Afghans being uprooted or seeking refuge in another country. In order to assess the need for international protection, the Commissioner General takes into account the fact that there are fundamental differences between the regions of Afghanistan when it comes to the security situation, the nature and intensity of the violence.