European Asylum Support Office (EASO) recently published country of origin information report titled ‘Afghanistan: Networks’. In 2016, Afghanistan ranked second in the top countries of origin in EU countries, with more than 175,000 asylum applicants in the Member States. Even though the number of asylum seekers was drastically reduced in 2017 due to increased border controls along the so-called Balkan refugee route, more than 40,000 persons from Afghanistan sought asylum in EU.
Report ‘Afghanistan: Networks’ provides an overview of different types of social networks in Afghanistan and the significance of these networks for individuals and families, be it during displacement, or for integration after return or after internal displacement within the country. Society in Afghanistan is of a collectivistic nature in which wishes and needs of individuals are less important than the needs of the group they belong, be it family, tribe, clan or local community. Loyalty to family, clan or local leaders in Afghanistan is far stronger than the attachment to the state or the authorities. Report discusses accordingly core principles, obligations and loyalties that exist within these networks, and gives an insight of the role of networks when it comes to individual and group decisions concerning internal and external migration. In that regard, a specific attention is given to the role of networks during deciding on the support to a child to undertake a journey towards Europe without its parents or relatives. Report also gives an insight into how migrants and networks maintain contact.