The Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on August 15 prompted hundreds of Afghans to rush to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in a bid to flee the Islamic militant organisation’s impending rule.
Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021
A refugee is defined as a person who has been forced “to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries,” as per UNHCR.
Overall, at the end of 2020, 82.4 million people were displaced worldwide because of persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations. In terms of intake, Turkey hosts the most number of refugees (mostly from Syria) at over 4 million.
A total of 68 percent of people displaced across borders belong to five countries — Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar.
As of 2020, there are about 2.8 million Afghan refugees abroad. The highest number of refugees living abroad belong to Syria, at 6.8 million, according to UNHCR.
On August 2, 2021, the US Department of State announced the Priority 2 (P-2) designation which grants US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) access to certain Afghan nationals and their eligible family members.
