EU pledges help for Afghanistan's neighbours with refugees

Bloc fears an influx of Afghans will cause major political problems at home

A refugee raises a child into the air among Syrian and Afghan migrants after their boat deflated before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos in September 2015. Reuters

The EU on Tuesday said it was considering more support for Afghanistan's neighbours as a senior official warned that fighting could force half a million people to flee abroad.

"The first priority is to continue to provide the best possible support according to the means available to those countries that are the most affected," a senior EU official said.

"So it's important to continue strengthening direct support to those countries and the different types of organisations, non-government organisations or international organisations that are present in the field and providing assistance to displaced persons and refugees."

The 27-nation bloc is nervously watching as the Taliban sweeps across the conflict-racked country while foreign troops depart.

Brussels fears the violence could lead to a repeat of the 2015 crisis in which about a million migrants, many from Syria, arrived in the EU and caused major political problems.

The UN says that so far this year there have been no "large-scale displacements" across Afghanistan's borders, despite the Taliban's advance.

And the EU official said that the number of arrivals from Afghanistan since the start of January was about 4,000, 25 per cent lower than in 2020.

But another official from the bloc said the UN estimated that 500,000 people could be pushed to leave Afghanistan for neighbouring Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan as the situation deteriorated.

The UN says that Iran and Pakistan already host "more than two million registered Afghan refugees in total" after decades of conflict in the country.

While the bloc hopes to avert a massive influx of people, an official said that Brussels was working to help resettle Afghans who worked for the EU.

"We are in intense co-operation with all our member states to make sure that our local agents and their dependents may either if they wish go to a European Union member state or go to another state in the region," the official said.

The EU's ambassador to Kabul is still in Afghanistan despite the deteriorating security situation and officials insist the bloc aims to maintain its diplomatic presence.

Officials said that nine member states still have functioning embassies in the country.