Kahmann Merel MES

Afghan refugees in The Netherlands
---
Permanently settled or waiting for return?
Merel Kahmann
University of Amsterdam
First supervisor Anja van Heelsum
Second supervisor Ilse van Liempt
Merel Kahmann
5791847
merelkahmann@hotmail.com
Migration and Ethnic Studies
International School for Humanities and Social Sciences
Why Afghanistan? Anyone who has been touched by an Afghan or visited the country in
peace or in war, will understand it when I say that the country and the people are amongst the
most extraordinary on earth
Ahmed Rashid, 2000
Acknowledgements
I want to thank Anja van Heelsum, who guided me through this research and challenged me to
obtain more and more results out of research data. Also, I want to thank Ilse van Liempt, for her
attentive input. My acknowledgements go out to Diederick Raven, responsible for the initial
inspiration of the subject of return migration.
Special thanks go out to my four parents for supporting me throughout my years of study, for
inspiring conversations at many a dinner table and particularly for crucial support during previous
years. Olivier, thank you for your Antillean influence during moments of stress and Job for your
endless proofreading, reflecting and correcting.
At last, though most importantly, I want to thank the Afghan respondents who shared their
experiences and their food, and let me feel despite the terrible war the warmth and beauty of
their country.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
p. 8
2.1
Ethnicities
p. 10
2.2
History and Refugee Flows
p. 11
2.2.1
Marxist Period and Soviet Invasion (1979 -1992)
p. 13
2.2.2
Mudjahedeen and the Civil War (1992 - 1996)
p. 14
2.2.3
Taliban (1996 - 2001)
p. 14
2.2.4
Interim Regime (2001 - present)
p. 15
2.3
Dutch Migration Policy
p. 17
CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1
Migration Theories
p. 18
3.1.1
Pioneer in Migration Theory
p. 18
3.1.2
Economic Theories
p. 19
3.1.3
Historical Structural Approach
p. 20
3.1.4
The Interdisciplinary Approach of Migration
p. 20
3.2
Refugees
p. 21
3.3
Re-migration
p. 23
3.3.1
Theories on Re-Migration
p. 23
3.3.2
Willingness and Readiness
p. 27
CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY
4.1
Research Design
p. 32
4.2
Interviews
p. 32
4.3
Fieldwork
p. 33
4.4
Respondents
p. 34
CHAPTER 5
AFGHANS IN THE NETHERLANDS
5.1
Leaving Afghanistan
p. 37
5.2
Afghans in the Netherlands
p. 39
5.2.1
Ethnic Identity and Contact with Other Afghans
p. 40
5.3
Conditions and Motives to Stay or Return
5.3.1
Macro Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

Return Migration
5.3.2
p. 48
Micro Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

Return Migration
CHAPTER 6
p. 42
Meso Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

Return Migration
5.3.3
p. 41
p. 52
PERMANENTLY SETTLED OR WAITING FOR RETURN?
6.1
Structuring of Motives and Conditions
p. 56
6.1.1
A Country at War
p. 58
6.1.2
Students and Reconstruction
p. 59
6.1.3
Social Capital
p. 61
6.1.4
Period of Flight
p. 62
6.1.5
Feeling at Home and Nostalgia
p. 63
6.2
The Maslow Transformation
p. 63
6.3
Between Willingness and Readiness
p. 66
CHAPTER 7
CONCLUSIONS
7.1
Influential Motives and Conditions
p. 69
7.2
Crucial Motives and Conditions
p. 70
7.3
Theoretical Reflection
p. 71
7.3.1
p. 72
7.3.2
p. 73
7.4
Future Research
p. 73
REFERENCES
p. 75
APPENDICES
Appendix I:
Major Source Countries of Refugees
p. 81
Appendix II:
Afghans resident in the Netherlands
p. 82
Appendix III:
Topic List
p. 83
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
In 2002 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Government of the
Netherlands, the Transnational Islamic State of Afghanistan and the United Nations. In this Act it
was agreed that Afghanistan was from then on considered a safe country, and that the Netherlands
and Afghanistan supported Afghans, resident in the Netherlands, to safely return. For Afghans
who want to return voluntarily different programs have been developed that support temporary
and permanent return. It were rather few people who returned to Afghanistan from the
Netherlands compared to the number that the International Organisation of Migration had
expected to remigrate1. The discrepancy between the expected and actual returnees was the
starting point for this research. Which motives and conditions play a role in considerations of
return? Do Afghans, resident in the Netherlands, actually want to return? Or is the wish to return
part of a mourning process? This qualitative research gains insight in the wishes of four groups of
Afghan refugees, from four different periods of flight over the past thirty years. In chronological
order people that left Afghanistan under: the Soviets, the Mudjahedeen, the Taliban and the
Interim-regime are distinguished. The differentiation between groups of refugees might give more
insight in how the time spent in the guest country might change the view of the home country and
probably shed a light on how meso conditions, for example belonging to a certain ethnic or
political group influence migration and return migration. In addition, each timeframe has its
particular reason to flee the country and thus when regimes change the motives and conditions to
return to Afghanistan might also change.
The research deals with the phenomenon of migration, or more specifically re-migration of
refugees. Throughout many years of research after international migration, studies mainly
focussed on labour migrants. In migration studies, refugees and return migration are both
undervalued topics. This research gives an overview of relevant literature on the concepts of
migration, refugees and return migration. Within the theoretical framework, the individual
perceptions of Afghan refugees in the Netherlands will shed more light on the practical context.
About 40.000 Afghans - quite a new group of migrants live in the Netherlands. The aim of this
The European Union started in 2002 with a return program for Afghans, expecting 1500 Afghans to return per
month. Afghans resident in the Netherlands show limited eagerness for returning to Afghanistan. In 2002 94 Afghans
returned voluntary from the Netherlands to Afghanistan (Hessels, 2004:51). More statistics on return can be found in
appendix 5.
study is to get more insight in the ideas and wishes of these Afghan refugees concerning a
voluntary return to Afghanistan.
The following research question is answered:
Which conditions and motives are influential in the decision of Afghan refugees, resident in the
Netherlands, whether to stay in the Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan?
Also the following sub-questions are answered:
1. What are conditions and motives for Afghan refugees, resident in the Netherlands, considering
return migration?
2. Do the influential motives and conditions on return of Afghan refugees coincide with
Maslows human needs hierarchy?
3. When Afghan refugees are willing to return, will they actually return?
This thesis starts with relevant background information concerning the history of Afghanistan,
migration flows, minorities and the Dutch migration policy. Furthermore, in chapter 3, theories
on migration, refugees and re-migration are successively presented. An overview is provided on
conditions and motives influencing return migration. Chapter 4 describes the methodology, used
for this research. After the methodology, the second sub-questions will be answered in chapter 5.
Chapter 5 deals with the situation of Afghans in the Netherlands and their motives and conditions
considering to stay in the Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan. Subsequently, the next chapter
analyzes which conditions and motives make Afghans stay in the Netherlands or return to
Afghanistan. Maslows human needs hierarchy is used to differentiate between micro, meso and
macro factors influencing a return or stay. After answering the different sub-questions, the
research question is answered in chapter 7, the conclusion. Literature references and the appendix
can be found at the end of the thesis.
CHAPTER 2 Background Information

Thirty years of war, political instability and violence in Afghanistan caused a flood of refugees. A
historical overview sheds light on the unstable situation in the country and the subsequent refugee
flows. Since the variety of ethnicities in Afghanistan have played an essential role in the history
of Afghanistan, these are discussed before moving to the historical overview. Subsequently
since the situation in the host country might be part of the decision to return the Dutch
migration policy is examined.
2.1
ETHNICITIES
This paragraph deals with the many different ethnic groups and languages of Afghanistan. Below,
figure 1 shows how different minorities are spread across the country.
Figure 1 Major Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan
Source: Marsden (1998), pg. ix.
10
When discussing these different groups it is important to take into account that ethnicity is a
complex and fluid concept. Depending on time, space and interaction, the meaning of ethnicity
changes. As Johnson and Leslie explained for the Afghan case, war not only brought about an
increased awareness of ethnic identity, it also changed how people categorized themselves
(2004:52). In other words, the differentiation between them and us in a period of war when social
relations change by violence and insecurity, will change and reconstruct ethnic identities.
The four largest ethnic groups are the Pashtuns, the Hazaras, the Tadjieks and the Uzbeks. As the
quantitative constitution of ethnic groups within the total population changes in time and since
there is a lack of a reliable census data, it is not possible to give exact numbers of each segment
of the population (Jawad, 1992:9). Jawad made his own estimates, because in other overviews the
Pashtuns are often overrepresented and other ethnic groups are underestimated. His statement on
the precarious estimations shows that tension between groups is actual. Moreover, it shows how
difficult it is to find reliable sources on this topic. The CIA Factbook, used for the following
estimates, is the most recent and largely coincides with Jawads estimates; Pashtuns, 42 %,
Tadjieks, 27 %, Hazara9%, Uzbeks, 9%. The percentages of Uzbeks and Hazaras from the CIA
Factbook are, compared to the percentages of Jawad, underestimated. Beside these groups there
are other minorities, under which Aimaq, Turkmen and Baluchis. In this research, the exact
numbers are of less importance than the respondents attitude towards these different ethnicities.
This research assesses the interaction of Afghans with different ethnicities in the Netherlands and
whether there are mutual frictions.
2.2 HISTORY AND REFUGEE FLOWS
In this paragraph the history of Afghanistan and the refugee flows caused by years of war are
described. The ancient history of Afghanistan is not much different from its recent history. It is
characterised by recurrent invasion by various empires. The bloody and violent nature of all
these invasions has contributed to Afghanistans relative underdevelopment and under population
in relation to its neighbours (Jawad, 1992:14). This research, focussing on the wars that caused
refugee flows, puts emphasis on the last thirty years, starting with the Soviet invasion in 1979,
followed by the Mudjahedeen era, the Taliban regime and the Interim regime. In order to
understand the context of the Soviet Invasion, relevant processes of the late 19th century and the
first half of the 20th century are described below.
In the understanding of the relation between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, it is important to
take into account the involvement of the British in the 19th century. Both Great Britain and Tsarist
11
Russia were increasing their power in South Central Asia and Afghanistan. After two AngloAfghan wars Great Britain assigned Abdur Rakhman Khan as the amir of Afghanistan. In 1881
the last British troops withdrew from Afghanistan, but Britain retained influence and supported
Afghanistan both financially and with weapons. During Abdur Rakman Khans period of
government, between 1880 and 1901, the Afghanistan of different tribes transformed into a more
centrally organised state. External borders were determined, among which the border between
east Afghanistan and British India. This border, determined in 1893, is called the Durand line,
and runs right across the Pashtun residential area (Vogelsang, 2002:14-16). After a short war with
British India, Afghanistan became officially independent in 1919. Until 1947 the power balance
in Central Asia between the Soviet Union and Great Britain remained unchanged. Afghanistan
functioned as a buffer between the two great powers and contributed to the stability of the area
(Translated from Wibier, 2002: 9-10).
During Zahir Shahs period of government, between 1933 and 1973, Afghanistan was rapidly
developing as a state, characterized by an increase in civil service, military forces and the number
of schools and teachers. In the 50s and 60s there were low employment rates while the
population steadily grew, and the young enjoyed increasingly better education. The
dissatisfaction of the Afghan population with the state of affairs increased. (Vogelsang, 2002:19)
After the Second World War, British India became independent. Afghanistan supported the
Pashtun, living on Pakistan territory, and wanted to bring the Pashtun under Afghan authority
(Wibier, 2002). An important event during that period was the forced resignation of Mohammed
Daud, Prime Minister and nephew of Zahir Shah, in 1963. The increasing tension between
Pakistan and Afghanistan due to the border conflict and the United States who neglected
Afghanistans need for financial assistance while supporting Pakistan resulted in the closure of
the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan; the Durand line (Wibier, 2002). This closure
rendered Afghanistan economically isolated. In addition, the withdrawal of Great Britain resulted
in an independent Pakistan and the Soviet Unions oppressive leadership resulting from the
Cold War affected Afghanistan. The new Prime Minister, Mohammed Yusuf, restored the
relation between Afghanistan and Pakistan and introduced a new constitution and elections. The
first elected Chamber of Deputies in 1965 was for many Afghans, especially the young, a
disillusion. Highly educated city dwellers were only marginally represented. Young people
increasingly started to take interest in extreme ideologies, like Marxism and Islamism
(Vogelsang, 2002:18-19).
12
2.2.1
Marxist Period and the Soviet Invasion (1979-1992)
Until 1979 the Marxist regime was characterised by disorder in the country and increasing
influence of the Soviet Union (translated from Vogelsang, 2002:20). The Marxist regime started
land reforms, nationalized the economy, changed the education system and promoted female
emancipation (De Bree, 2008). The Afghan population, especially from rural areas, did not
accept these radical changes. Also, detentions and executions conducted by the Peoples
Democratic Party of Afghanistan aroused great unrest, which led to the first wave of refugees
leaving Afghanistan in 1978 (Vogelsang 2002, 21). Around Christmas 1979, the Soviet troops
entered Afghanistan to keep the Marxist government in place. This turbulent period caused a new
wave of refugees. During the whole of 1979, the year of the Soviet Invasion, 600.000 Afghans
fled from Afghanistan, mainly to Pakistan and Iran, but also to Europe and the United States (van
den Tillaart et al, 2000:44). During the Marxist rule, the Red Army and the Afghan governmental
army had to deal with a revolt, which was structured in an inconsistent manner. The
Mudjahedeen came from rural areas and were not centrally organised, but along ethnic lines,
which made them difficult to deal with (De Bree, 2008). Apparently, the Mudjahedeen had no
leaders as such, neither was there a common programme and the military strategy they deployed
was hardly ever clear. Furthermore, the Afghan opposition was an unorganised revolt with its
roots mostly outside of the city. The obscure structure of the organisation made it difficult for the
Red Army to fight the Mudjahedeen. The support that the Mudjahedeen received from Pakistan,
the United States and the warriors from Iran and Pakistan forced the Soviet troops to leave the
country in 1989. When all Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989, Najibullah, president since
1986, was not expected to last very long without the presence of the Red Army and [also]
repatriation of returnees was expected (Wood 1989, 351). However, Najibullah remained in
power until in 1992 the Mudjahedeen took over, which resulted in the end of the Marxist regime
(Vogelsang, 2002).
Between 1985 and 1990 there were 6,2 million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan only, nearly
half of the world refugee population. Between 1989 and 1998, 23,480 Afghans applied for
asylum in the Netherlands. (van den Tillaart et al, 2000:44).
13
2.2.2
Mudjahedeen and the Civil War (1992-1996)
In 1992, Ahmad Shah Massud seized power in Kabul and installed a new government. Failure to
reach agreement over the composition of a Islamic and centralized government, led to the
outbreak of renewed fighting at the end of 1992 (Jazayery, 2002: 232). This Mudjahedeen era was
characterised by instability and violence. The Islamic coalition formed by different resistance
groups kept fighting with the remaining military forces of Najibullah and caused many victims.
According to Vogelsang (2002), in the summer of 1994 Pakistan lost its patience regarding the
unrest in Afghanistan and wanted a controllable neighbouring country which was beneficial for
trading, and started to support Talib warriors.
Despite the war, repatriation of refugees from Pakistan and Iran started after the fall of
Najibullah, reaching 4 million returns in 1997. On the other hand, the Civil War of 1992-1996
saw many tens of thousands killed and renewed outflows of refugees from areas throughout
Afghanistan, composed both of repatriated and new refugees (Jazayery, 2002:232).
2.2.3
Taliban (1996-2001)
The Taliban quickly gained power in Pashtun areas, since the Taliban was well armed by the
support from Pakistan and had the support of the Afghan population who were tired of the
behaviour of the local warlords during the Mudjahedeen period (Barakat, 2002 and Rais, 1999).
They were hardly resisted because they were perceived as liberators (Rais, 1999:5). The
Taliban took important cities and in September 1996 they even controlled Kabul. The Taliban
fighters were largely drawn from Pashtun youths who had spent most of their lives in the refugee
camps of Pakistan (Barakat, 2002). These men were often educated in Islamic schools and
shortly after their invasion introduced Islamic rules. They publicly hanged the former
communistic leader Nadjibullah and forced the inhabitants to abide strict Islamic law. Cinemas,
football stadiums, schools for girls and television stations were closed (Tillaart et al, 2000:41).
The lives of urban women and girls were particularly severely affected. They were instructed to
wear the all- enveloping chaddari, forbidden to study, forbidden to attend schools or university,
forbidden to work (other than in the health sector) and were forbidden to leave their homes
without a male relative (Barakat, 2002). The increasing power that the Taliban obtained meant
that they had a monopoly of violence and predation. As a result they were able to establish an
environment of extremely high opium cultivation. In 1999 Afghanistans opium production
peaked at 4,600 tonnes, which made the country the worlds major source of opium (Cramer &
Goodhand, 2002:897).
14
During this period, some people, mainly Pashtun, returned from Pakistan and Iran when their
homes were secure. Most other ethnicities, especially Shiite Hazaras, fled Afghanistan as a result
of the ethnic cleansing operations carried out by the Taliban. At the same time, a three-year
drought hit Afghanistan, resulting in overlapping political and economical reasons for fleeing
Afghanistan (Stigter 2006: 118). In 1998 a climax was reached of registered asylum applications
of Afghan refugees in the Netherlands2 (van den Tillaart et al, 2000:44). By 2000 there were
about eight million Afghan refugees worldwide (Jazayery 2002: 239-240).
2.2.4
Interim Regime (2001- present)
The strict Islamic regime of the Taliban characterised by the oppression of women resulted in
attention and interference of other countries in the world (Azizzada & Wagemaker, 2007:2-3).
The United States officially turned against the Taliban and started to supply arms to the
Northern Alliance the Tadjiek Mudjahedeen resistance forces that had organized themselves
in order to fight the Taliban (Wagemaker, 2007). After the 9/11 attacks, the United States started
military actions against the Taliban regime, which moved the Taliban from their powerful
position. The Coalition bombings led to more outflows of refugees. During 2000-2001, Afghans
constituted the largest refugee population in the world (Jazayery 2002, 240). In December 2001
Hamid Karzai became the leader of the Afghan Interim Administration, a government resulting
3
from the Bonn Agreement. During the Loya Djirga in 2002 Hamid Karzai was elected President
of the country (Vogelsang, 2002:27). The political and security situation in Afghanistan remains
unstable until today, because the current government consists mainly of old Taliban and
Mudjahedeen key figures. Furthermore, it remains questionable whether Karzais power radius
reaches beyond Kabul as regional warlords, who are often involved in the narcotics economy,
control the provinces. According to Hodes and Sedra (2007:35) the opium cultivation is at the
heart of the Afghan security problem. It is intertwined with issues of governance, corruption,
warlordism and the Taliban-led insurgency. According to figure 2 of the Afghanistan Opium
Survey, in 2007, a record of 8,200 tonnes opium was produced in Afghanistan.
2
3
Table of the numbers of Afghans staying in the Netherlands can be found in appendix 4
Grand Assembly under UN auspices
15
Figure 2 Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan (ha), 1994-2007
UNODC, Afghanistan Opium Winter Rapid Assessment Report, February 2007)
Although the International Security Assistance Force is present since 2002 in order to control
security, the Taliban and other groupings remain active and are responsible for an increasing
number of attacks, suicide bombings and kidnaps. In 2007 the security situation in Afghanistan
has been the worst since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 (UNHCR, 2007a and De Bree, 2008:5).
Roughly, four periods of flight can be distinguished. Along these lines, a categorisation of
respondents within this research has been made. This categorisation can be found in the table
below.
Table 1 Categorisation Periods of flight
Period of Flight
Authority in Afghanistan
Relatively Safe for:
1979-1992
PDPA
Marxists
1992-1996
Mudjahedeen (Civil War)
1996-2001
Taliban
2001-present
Interim Government
Pashtun
The conflict in Afghanistan is a clear example of the human costs of the cold war (Ferris,
1993:175). Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States invested in Afghanistan with
military supplies. The war dragged on for over a decade in large part because of such superpower involvement. After the Soviet Union troops had left Afghanistan, the United States were
no longer interested in the Afghan situation. The long years of US and Western neglect allowed
16
the Taliban to turn Afghanistan into just such a sanctuary for extremist groups from more than
two dozen countries (Rashid, 2006:ii). This part of the Afghan history shows how interests of
various countries influenced the political instability and unsafety in Afghanistan.
2.3
DUTCH MIGRATION POLICY
In the last paragraph of this chapter on the background of the research, the important phases of
the Dutch migration policy are explained. Although the Netherlands was already familiar with
refugees in the 16th century, the involvement of the government in a refugee policy has its origin
in the period of the First World War. The Dutch government had a reserved attitude towards the
Belgian refugees. According to van der Horst (2001:56), they could bring the neutral position of
the Netherlands in danger. Additionally, suspicious sentiments about the Belgian refugees
enforced the unwelcoming attitude and the attempt to force them to return. After the 2nd World
War refugees were welcomed from communist countries, which suffered from the Cold War. At
that time most European countries developed a refugee policy. Starting at the end of the 70s and
continuing all throughout the 80s, the amount of refugees arriving in the Netherlands increased
significantly. The arrival of refugees, the major new migrant groups in the Netherlands, has
reinforced the existing link between the idea of migration and the idea of return (Ghorashi,
2003:148). As guest workers were conceived of as temporary visitors, so were these refugees.
Migrants were seen as the other, because in the end they are expected to return to their country
of origin. In other words, a popular sentiment was that if they did not intend on staying, they
would not become one of us. As Roosens (1994) and Ghorashi (2003) argue, media play an
important role in creating an image of the other. Although the diversification in immigration is
to be understood as an integral and hence normal part of the globalization process, this was
an unforeseen consequence and one which gave policymakers a sense of being out of control
and politicians an easy issue for debate (Doomernik, 2005:32). The idea to strictly control and
curb migration flows resulted in the new Aliens Act in April 2001.
17
CHAPTER 3 Theoretical Framework
This research focuses on the motives and conditions that influence the consideration of return as
experienced by Afghans resident in the Netherlands. A variety of migration theories are used to
gain insight into the general motives and conditions that stimulate migration. This overview starts
with the pioneer in migration studies, Ravenstein. Furthermore, the most important trends in
migration studies are discussed: the neoclassical theories, the New Economics of Labour
Migration theory, the structural approach and the interdisciplinary approach. Reading the
paragraph on migration it is important to understand the shifts in the usage of macro-, meso-, and
micro- perspectives on migration, since this categorisation is used to structure conditions and
motives of the Afghan interviewees. Subsequently, the position of refugees within these
migration theories is examined. Return migration, a particular form of migration, has specific
characteristics that will be described in the last paragraph of the chapter dealing with the
theoretical framework.
3.1
MIGRATION THEORIES
Before proceeding to Ravenstein, Lee (1966:49) broadly defines migration as follows;

Migration is defined broadly as a permanent or semi-permanent change of residence. No
restriction is placed upon the distance of the move or upon the voluntary or involuntary nature of
the act; and no distinction is made between external and internal migration. Later, in
combination with theories on refugees and return migration, the concept of migration will become
more aggregative towards the topic of this research.
3.1.1
Pioneer in Migration Theory
Around 1880, Ravenstein was, like other people at that time who were discovering new parts of
the world, a pioneer in the field of migration due to a mere absence of predecessors. Doing his
research in the United Kingdom, Ravenstein (1889) only had access to data on place of birth,
present location, and gender of inhabitants of the United Kingdom. With the categorization of
people along the lines of the distances between their present locations and places of birth he could
find patterns of migration. Ravenstein used these patterns to develop seven laws of migration.
Despite the limited data, many researchers use Ravensteins gender- and distance- patterns in
their migration studies.
18
3.1.2
Economic Theories
At a later stage more data became available from more detailed registers and via other data
gathering systems. For example, about fifty years later, Stouffer (1940) had access to data of
4
rent prices and race . Researchers assessed more factors and more detailed research was
conducted. As a result, more specialized personal data on, for example, education, income and
age made migration theories more complex.
In neoclassical theories migration was seen as an act of people who want to maximize their
benefits based on wage differentials; in other words, migrants are looking for higher earnings
and lower costs. These rational people make a choice whether to migrate or not. In choosing
between at least two alternative courses of action, a person is apt to choose the one for which
the perceived value of the result is greater (Faist, 1997:189).
Motives and conditions, which attract and repulse people, are called push- and pull-factors.
Push factors include demographic growth, low living standards, lack of economic
opportunities and political repression, while pull factors are demand for labour, availability of
land, good economic opportunities and political freedoms (Castles & Miller, 1993: 22). Critique
on the push-pull model, mainly found in neo-classical economics, is that it is too individualistic
and not taking in account macro-structures like a historical perspective. Finally the push-pull
model cannot explain why a certain group of migrants goes to one country rather than another
(Castles & Miller, 1993: 24). Assessing people as rational individuals, as the push-pull model
does, needs a critical remark; it is impossible for human beings to always be rational. In other
words, human beings cannot foresee all the benefits and costs before taking a decision, let alone
make a purely rational assessment of these benefits and costs without intrusion of emotional
aspects.
A reaction to the individual based theory is the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM) in
which the household is considered most important, thus leaving no room for the rational,
maximizing individual. NELM regards migration as a temporary response to market failures at
home. In other words, Stark (1999: 26) put that the NELM approach shifts the focus of migration
theory from individual independent [] to mutual interdependence. Thus, the NELM tries to
bridge the micro-macro problem when taking in account the household at the meso-level.
However, this meso-level depends on the social, political and economic background, which the
analysis lacks. This remark counts for the NE as well, where again the necessary background
information is missing. Approaching migration only by economic factors can be considered
narrow-minded when explaining a social phenomenon.
4
Race is a socially created concept of social life and has no biological foundation as such.
19
3.1.3
Historical structural approach
From the individual to the macro perspective on migration.
According to this approach migration flows occur by the unequal distribution of economic and
political power in the world economy (Castles & Miller, 1993: 25). Sassen (1995), an
American economist, sociologist and macro theorist, is concerned with globalization and
urbanization. She relates migration flows to other political and economical processes, whereby
geopolitical links between sending and receiving countries play an important role. If there has
been a historical connection between two countries it is more likely that migrants move between
the two. Although her work includes some evidence on the macro structures, it fails to explain
why Somali refugees would first move to the Netherlands instead of directly to England, the
country of former colonial ties. In her work, Sassen did not use fieldwork. Instead, she used
macro structures to approach the concept of migration. Migration, in her eyes, is determined by
economic and political power. According to Malmberg (1997) there are combined effects on
migration of short-term and long-term processes, on both local and global levels, which have
different consequences for migration in alternative contexts. To analyse migration only from
the macro perspective is too narrow-minded. As Malmberg explains in his article, there are
many different factors, on different levels that cause migration. With a more combined
approach, a more realistic and useful analysis can be made.
3.1.4
The Interdisciplinary Approach of Migration
Taking into account micro-, meso- and macro-structures.
As mentioned before, the migration theories and perspectives, which focus exclusively on
micro- or macro- structures, are inadequate to comprehensively explain the whole of migration.
The basic principle is that any migratory movement can be seen as the result of interacting
macro- and micro-structures. Macro-structures refer to large-scale institutional factors, while
micro-structures embrace networks, practices and beliefs of the migrants themselves. These two
levels are linked by a number of intermediate mechanisms, which are often referred to as mesostructures (Castles & Miller, 1993: 27). Bridging the micro and macro level in social science is
a common problem. Research can focus on individual beings or look for bigger underlying
structures in society, but to relate individual human actions to large-scale processes is quite
difficult. Macro-, meso- and micro-structures are intertwined in the migratory process, and
20
there are no clear dividing lines between them (Castles & Miller, 1993: 28). When carrying out
research on a social phenomenon it is essential to be aware that there are different factors on
various levels that influence, in this case, migration.
Faist gives some guidelines for combining different levels of migration analysis. In a
sociological analysis of international migration three levels are relevant (1) political-economiccultural structures on the level of the international system, the country of origin and the country
of destination (structural level), (2) density strength and content of social relations between
stayers and movers within units in the areas of origin and destination (relational level), and (3)
the degree of freedom or autonomy of a potential mover (individual level), i.e. the degree to
which he or she has the ability to decide on moving or staying (Faist, 1997:195).
Thus, within different migration theories and perspectives, a shift has taken place from very
limited to more detailed information and from a single micro- or macro- perspective to a more
interdisciplinary approach. In addition, the approaches in migration include different push-pull
factors or structures that force or stimulate migration. All these decisions to move, contain an
element of seeking improvement of various conditions, ranging from education and income to
safety.
Lastly, most theories and approaches deal with labour migrants. In the next paragraph the
question concerning the position refugees take within this (labour) migration discourse.
3.2
REFUGEES
The last thirty years, large groups of refugees moved from Afghanistan to neighbouring
countries, Europe and the United States. Since this research is dealing with these specific kinds
of migrants, refugees, a definition of the term refugee will be the starting point of this
paragraph.
According to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee
is a person residing outside of his or her country of nationality, who is unable or unwilling to
return because of a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion (Castles & Miller, 2003: 103).
Information about the macro conditions is necessary for analysing a refugee flow. The great
diversity of refugee migrations makes the development of a comprehensive refugee theory
difficult (Kunz in Wood, 1989: 346). Nevertheless, Kunz made categories of different kinds of
refugees. Most Afghan refugees would fit under Kunzs category of acute refugee movements;
those who have escaped immediate danger. Besides the escape from imminent threat of a
21
country in war, Faist argues that refugees have, like other migrants, a certain choice in their
decision to migrate. There are, according to Faist, alternatives for improving their life situation:
Most forced migrants remain in the neighbouring countries because persecution, human rights
abuse and generalized violence makes life there unsustainable. These countries are usually poor
and often politically unstable themselves. Onward migration to countries that offer better
economic and social opportunities is only possible for a small minority (1997).
The first ones to migrate, labelled pioneers, are often the elite from the country of departure, in
this case, Afghanistan. They have access to social, human and economic resources to make a
decision for onward migration possible. It is assumed that the actor is able to make rational
decisions on the basis of a set of tastes or preferring orderings. For example, improving and
securing autonomy, affiliation, exit from oppression (e.g. refugees) (Faist, 1997:189). The ability
to choose categorizes the refugees within the rational choice theory. These onward migration is
motivated both by imperative of leaving a country of origin where life has become perilous, and
by the hope of building a better life elsewhere. Attempts by policy-makers to make a clear
distinction between economic and forced migrants are hampered by these mixed motivations
(Castles & Miller, 2003: 32). In sum, refugees are forced migrants on the one hand, but on the
other hand, some have a choice to migrate not only for safer conditions but also to an area where
they have better social and economical chances. Related to the general migration theories, macro
structures seem inevitable for analysing refugee flows. But also micro-structures are, as for other
migrants, important in analysing motives for refugee migration.
Another important aspect of being a refugee is the ubiquitous wish to return. According to Muus
& Miller (1999), return will always play a role for refugees, even if they obtained a residence
permit. For political exiles, the wish to return to the homeland is based on political
consideration and remains a significant factor during their first years of stay (Ghorashi,
2003:148). The boundary metaphor of Barth (1969) is very useful in this case. Home is a social
construction instead of some essentialist notion of a particular place. This influenced the notion of
transnationalism. In the words of Malkki; But if home is where one feels most safe at ease,
instead of some essentialized point on the map, then it is far from clear that returning where one
fled from is the same thing as going home (1995: 509 in Ghorashi). Appadurai (1996) argues
that a world of images is created. People who live far away from each other can create something
in common, namely shared imagination. The word imagination already implies that
identification is not place or time bounded; it is a multifaceted concept. A striking point, made by
Waldinger & Fitzgerald (2004), about the notion of home is that migrants rather have no home
22
than two homes. The relation with their home country is not as simplistic as is often assumed.
The notion of the country of origin is part of identification and selective and multi-faceted. Faist
(1997) argues that the latest stage of migration often seems to be the return. Will refugees, in
this case Afghan refugees, really return? Or is it only a wish, something to construct the past, a
form of mourning? In the next paragraph we will have a look at possible motives to stay or return.
3.3
RE-MIGRATION
Although Ravenstein already mentioned the concept of counter stream migration in his migration
analysis, re-migration has remained an underrepresented phenomenon in the migration discourse.
In Cassarinos words, our understanding remains hazy not so much because it has been
neglected by migration scholars, but rather because its magnitude and configuration are scarcely
measurable and comparable, owing to the lack of reliable large-scale quantitative data
(2004:253). In spite of limited analysis of re-migration in migration research, the concept has
often been part of political debates. Even when return has been a specific subject of policy
consideration, the tendency has generally been to look at the returnees on a non-differential or
aggregate basis, without giving much attention to selectivity in terms of their personal
characteristics, duration of stay in the receiving country, and the motivations underlying different
types of return (King, 2000:7). In addition, studies of migration made until the 1960 little or no
reference to return. He argues that the difficulty of generalizing and theorizing about return
migration is that there are many types of return, just as there are many types of migration (King
2000:40). In the following paragraph contributions to the re-migration research are analysed,
starting with a definition on return and followed by theories on return migration.
A definition of the returnee that is worth consideration, is the following: Any person returning to
his/her country of origin, in the course of the last ten years, after having been an international
migrant (whether short-term or long-term) in another country. Return may be permanent or
temporary. It may be independently decided by the migrant or forced by unexpected
circumstances (Based on UN and Bovenkerk in MIREM, 2008).
3.3.1
Theories on Re-Migration
As mentioned in the previous paragraph about migration theories, the neoclassical and the NELM
theorist mainly focus on the economical aspects of migration. As they consider migration, they
also include re-migration; nevertheless it is worth taking into account their different analyses of
23
return migration. While neoclassical theorists see re-migration as a failure, the NELM theorists
conversely consider return as an act of successful migration. The underlying assumption of the
NELM theory to see re-migration as a success, is that migration is a temporary response to
market failures at home (Constant & Massey, 2002). Not the maximizing individual is taken in
account, but the household is considered important. On the contrary, according to the neoclassical
theory, return migration should only occur if a migrants expectations for higher net earnings
are not met because of under- or unemployment, because wages are lower than expected, or
because the psychic costs of moving are higher than anticipated (i.e., they find they unexpectedly
miss their homeland, its culture, and its people) (Constant & Massey, 2002:10).
According to the structuralist approach, re-migration is placed in a more macro-like
perspective. This implies that in contrast to the economical approaches, the structuralists argue
that a decision to return is not only an individual decision, but above all a social and contextual
one, affected by situational and structural factors (Cassarino, 2004:257). In addition, not only
do skills and financial capital shape return experiences, but local power relations, traditions and
values in home countries also have a strong bearing on the returnees capacity to invest their
migration experiences in their home countries (Cassarino 2004:259).
Transnationalism, a perspective not mentioned in the overview of migration theories, but
important for understanding the debate of return migration, attempt to formulate a theoretical
and conceptual framework aimed at a better understanding of the strong social and economic
links between migrants host and origin countries (Cassarino, 2004:261). The transnational
perspective focuses on the relations between the host country and country of origin and its
influence that it might exert on the migrant, especially on his identity. The improvement in
technologies of transport and communication, facilitate the growth of circulatory or repeated
mobility, in which people migrate regularly between a number of places where they have
economic, social or cultural linkages (Castles & Miller, 1993). Return is not necessarily
permanent and is prepared and related to social and historical context. It occurs once enough
financial resources and benefits are gathered to sustain household and when conditions in
home country bare favourable (Cassarino, 2004).
The last approach of return migration is the cross-border social network theory. Social
networks consist of more or less homogeneous sets of ties between three or more actors (Faist,
1997:193). Just like the transnational approach to return migration, social network theory views
returnees as migrants who maintain strong linkages with their former places of settlement in
other countries (Cassarino, 2004: 265). According to network theory, different levels of analysis
are taken into account: the individual, but also bigger network structures that are formed and
24
influenced by macro structures. Thanks to the insights of transnationalism and social network
theory, return is no longer viewed as the end of the migration cycle; rather, it constitutes one
stage in the migration process (Cassarino, 2004: 268). Faist argues that networks are crucial in
(re-) migration considerations; the specific characteristics of social capital are important in
explaining the low volume of international movement, chain migration and often high rates of
return migration. It is very difficult to transfer social capital abroad; even harder than the
transfer of human capital (Faist, 1997:188). Emphasising the significance of family ties, the
network theory clarifies how the absence of family members, might motivate a migrant to return
or to further migrate to his relatives.
Besides the different theories on return migration, scholars indicated other aspects worth taking
into account when analysing return migration.
Ghosh points out, return is largely influenced by the initial motivations for migration as well as
by the duration of the stay abroad and particularly by the conditions under which the return takes
place (2000:185). The reason of flight and the initial migration plan are necessary knowledge
when analysing return migration. The difficulties of refugee repatriation cannot be appreciated
without an understanding of the causal factors in the refugee flight (Wood, 1989:347). During a
stay in the Netherlands, motives for return migration might be reshaped. For example, when
refugees escape a country due to an unsafe situation, their perception of safety might change after
some years in the Netherlands. Another possibility is that different gender relations might play a
role in the wish to return. The experience of migration and of living in another country often
leads to modification of the original plans, so that migrants intentions at the time of departure
are poor predictors of actual behaviour (Castles & Miller, 1993: 21). In the analysis of return
migration the conditions in the country of origin need to be taken into account. In other words,
the changes and reforms in the country of origin do have an impact on migrants choice to
return home (MIREM, 2008). The wish to return will be influenced by the expectations of life in
Afghanistan.
According to King, when migrants indicate their reasons for return in questionnaire and interview
surveys, most studies report the predominance of non-economic factors. The most frequently
mentioned motives are family ties and the desire to rejoin kin and old friends (King, 2001:19).
Beside the pre-dominance of non-economic factors and the importance of social capital, King
made another point that is worth consideration, especially in the Afghan case. Women face
particular problems with return. In many cases they enjoyed a more independent life-style
abroad, partly because of their experience of paid work in a more open and egalitarian society.
25
Upon return, however, they have to face barriers to employment and emancipation (2000:21).
The problems of children who return, he argued, are even more problematic. This especially
applies to children who were born and commenced their education in the host country and are
forced to return to the alienated country of origin of their parents. (King, 2000:21) Other
migration studies corroborate the importance of children in the decision to return. For families
the level of integration of their children often plays an important role. When Angolan children
are used to life in the Netherlands, go to school here, speak Dutch and maybe even hardly
remember Angola; return is presumably more difficult (Brons & Schaap, 2002: 34).
A study of Cerase provides many emblematic examples of how complex the relationships
between the returnees expectations and the social and economic context at home are (Cerase,
1974:251). Cerase has established four categories of reasons: (a) Return of failure: migrants
who could not find the job necessary to survive and send back remittances; (b) Return of
conservatism: migrants who realized early on that they could not thrive in a different culture
away from family and friends; (c) Return of retirement: many migrants, after earning enough
money, want to retire comfortably in the home country; and (d) Return of innovation: the group
most interesting to development practitioners (Cerase, 1974: 251). The term return of innovation
was, according to Olesen, first coined in 1974, and is the equivalent of what we today call the
brain gain (1995:137). Especially the last category is applicable to cases of migration caused by
war. As mentioned before, the highly educated are often the first ones to migrate. When, after
years of war, the country needs reconstruction, these are the people likely to return.
As a last point, Maslows pyramid of human needs is a useful contribution for understanding the
conditions and motives on the individual level to return or to stay. Figure 1 shows Maslows
visualisation of the human needs.
26
Figure 3 Maslows Pyramid
Source: http://www.normemma.com/images/misc/maslow1.jpg
When basic physiological needs such as food and shelter are fulfilled, people aspire security and
stability. In case of refugees, safety is often found in a host country. Those who have undergone
migration and found these needs in a host country, experience that other requirements arise, such
as family and friends, which create a sense of belonging and love. Beside these needs, there is an
urge to achieve respect and recognition. The last facet of Maslows human needs pyramid, is the
part of self-actualisation, which he describes as the pursuit of inner talent. When migrants are
incapable to attain these human needs f, it is assumed that their wish to return to their country of
origin will be stronger. When migrants migrated to fulfil their basic needs like food and safety,
but they are not able due to absence of family, language problems or jobs below their actual
level to obtain the other Maslows needs, a migrant might create a strong wish to return, while
he is not able to return due to he unsafe situation in the country of origin. This discrepancy
between the wish to return and a migrants actual return is clarified in the paragraph below.
3.3.2
Willingness and Readiness
Cassarino (2004) introduced two very useful concepts for analysing the wish to return:
willingness and readiness. These concepts differentiate between a certain wish to return and the
actual return. These concepts are comparable with the concepts intention and behaviour of Ajzen
and Fishbein (1980). When someone has the intention to act in a certain way, it remains
questionable how the person will actually behave. Returning from the general social sciences to
this migration case: There are labour migrants or refugees who did not come to stay
27
permanently, but eventually settle and still indicate that they wish to return to their homeland.
This illusion of return might be part of the mourning process of refugees. The interactions
between intention, observed migration behaviour, and feelings about identity lead on to a
complex debate about the myth of return (Anwar, 1979) and about what other authors have
termed the return illusion or the ideology of return (Brettell, 1979; Rubenstein, 1979). In brief,
the myth of return expresses a contrasting set of beliefs and actions whereby, no matter how
settled, migrants talk and behave as if one day they will return. In this situation there is a
discrepancy between the willingness of a migrant to return and a migrants readiness or
preparedness. In these cases we must look not only at the social ties of migrants to persons in
the sending countries but also at the symbolic ties, namely the set of collective representations
(e.g. religious symbols), memories, forecasts and worldviews that migrants perceive to have in
common with those in the sending countries. The prevalence of symbolic ties, a basis for cultural
capital, is one important element in the explanation of actual settlement and declared return
(Faist, 1997:215). This idea of Faist deserves attention and can be related to the feelings of home
and belonging. Living in a nation-state where identity and nationality are strongly related may
increase or decrease a sense of belonging. (Ghorashi, 2003).
To answer the research question, which motives and conditions influence the decision to stay or
return, it is necessary to determine relevant factors influencing return migration from the theories
on migration. As the different theories on return migration showed, influential factors vary from
macro-scale conditions, as war and the state of the economy, to micro-scale conditions, based on
individual perception. In reality, the causes of return migration are many and varied, and a
migrant may decide to return home for a complex of reasons rather than just one (King,
2000:14). Since there is information on the situation of Afghanistan available, a scheme of
operationalised macro, meso and micro factors can be defined. In other words, with the help of
migration theories and approaches and information on the situation of Afghanistan, these general
structures are operationalised in useful concepts, which are applicable for the case of Afghan
refugees resident in the Netherlands. For instance, we know about the fact that Afghanistan is still
a country at war. Subsequently, this macro condition is likely to deeply influence the return
decision. As Mazurski (2005:68) argued, all respondents (13) stated that personal and public
safety were the primary factors affecting the possibility of even visiting the country, let alone
return migration or repatriation. Unravelling all possible influences on migration out of the
theory and specifying general factors to migrate to more detailed motives and conditions for the
case of Afghan refugees, leads to the following scheme.
28
Table 2 Conditions and Motives influencing Return Migration

Conditions
Motives
Level of Maslows
Pyramid
Macro
Political structure
Unsafe Situation
Physiological needs
Structural
Economic
Poor economical Infrastructure
Safety needs
level
structure
Reconstruction
Social structure
Gender relations
Networks
Family Ties
Meso
Relational
Family Composition (children)
level
Period of flight (ethnical and
Belonging needs
political organisation)
Feeling at home / Discrimination
Micro
Psychological
Poor job opportunities
Esteem needs
Individual
factors
Difficulties with language
Self actualization
level
Nostalgia
It is important to take the macro structures into account when studying refugee flows. These
macro structures include: political, economic, and social structures. For a country at war, these
macro conditions deeply influence society and thus have substantial impact on migration flows.
In this research the ongoing situation of war and its consequence of the unsafe situation in
Afghanistan is assumed to strongly influence the decision of Afghan refugees to stay in the
Netherlands. The situation in Afghanistan is influenced by many different macro structures, for
instance, neighbouring countries, the war on terrorism, oil industry and opium cultivation. These
influential macro structures illustrate that return is not only an individual decision, but above all
a social and contextual one, affected by situational and structural factors (Cassarino,
2004:257).
The poor economical infrastructure of Afghanistan is caused by the unstable situation as a result
of the war. Corruption and limited job opportunities are common in such situations This research
29
shows whether and to which extent migrants are influenced in their return decision by the
economical structures in Afghanistan compared to the structures of the Netherlands.
Social structures, like gender relations, are worth taking into account when analysing return
migration. As King (2001) argued, women deserve special attention concerning return migration,
since they often enjoyed a more independent lifestyle in the host country. After the opportunities
and freedom they experienced in the Netherlands, return to Afghanistan has more barriers for
women than a return has for men. In other words, it can be assumed that female migrants return to
a lesser extent.
The lack of opportunities and the often-occurring brain drain, often creates a reverse movement
of brain gain at a later stage. Cerases (1974) return for innovation, the brain gain, may be useful
to understand the Afghans willing to return to reconstruct their country. As other refugees,
Afghans in the Netherlands might also favour a return to support the reconstruction in their
country of origin.
Motives and conditions on the meso level are generally concentrated in networks. Concerning a
possible stay or return, we might assume that the presence of family in the host country stimulates
a stay in the host country. Meanwhile the maintenance of social ties with family in the country of
origin might stimulate return, especially in case of retirement, as has been showed by former
research.
Different scholars put emphasis on the presence of children in a family and their influence on a
decision to migrate. For children a return might be problematic when they grew up in and got
used to the host country.
During war, different Afghan governments were related to a particular political view and often to
a particular ethnicity. These characteristics influenced the outflow of groups of Afghans with a
certain political engagement or ethnicity. The question arises whether period of flight, related to
political engagement and ethnicity, also influences the possibility of return. For instance, the
likelihood of voluntary return migration of Afghans who arrived shortly ago in the Netherlands
might be different compared to that in those Afghans who stayed for many years in the
Netherlands.
Individual conditions and motives concentrate on the psychological factors influencing return
migration. The extent that migrants feel at home in the Netherlands seems to influence the
decision to return. When they feel at home, Afghan refugees are more likely to stay than when
they do not feel at home and encounter discrimination in the Netherlands.
30
Conditions on the micro level that might stimulate return are difficulties with language and joboffer below actual level. As the pyramid of Maslow showed, people also need, besides primary
human needs like food and shelter, p recognition and self-esteem. When these needs are lacking,,
for instance caused by problems with language or job-offer below actual level , the conditions
might enforce the wish to return.
Longing for traditions, the languages of Afghanistan, the food and other aspects of the home
country are parts of nostalgia, which also stimulates return.
As a last point, the long distance between the Netherlands and Afghanistan might be a condition
that discourages Afghans to return. The Method chapter elaborates on how these possible
influential motives and conditions are turned into interview questions.
In sum, different motives and conditions can be identified for every migrant's return to the
country of origin, further migration or settlement in a host country. The factors that influence the
decision to return include macro, meso and micro characteristics: the safety situation in country
of origin, the home market and power relations, the need for reconstruction, gender relations, the
presence of children, social networks, the period of flight, feeling at home, discrimination in host
country, difficulties with the language, job-offer below the actual level, nostalgia, and distance
are all eligible factors. While many factors influence the decision to return, there seems to be a
predominance of non-economic factors, like social capital, in the country of origin. In the analysis
of Afghan refugees in the Netherlands their initial motives for migration, their stay in the
Netherlands and the conditions and motives to return or to stay will shed more light on their
position within the re-migration theories and perspectives.
31
CHAPTER 4 Methodology
In the methodology chapter the research design, the interviews, the fieldwork, and the
respondents are described respectively.
4.1
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design portrays the intended research population. Since the aim of this exploratory
research is to gain insight in the individual motives and conditions of Afghan refugees
considering return migration, qualitative research methods are used, which include in-depth
interviewing and observations during Afghan meetings. To answer the research question which
conditions and motives are influential in the decision of Afghan refugees, resident in the
Netherlands, whether to stay in the Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan, we need to interview
Afghan respondents with a Dutch or refugee passport, who have the power to voluntary decide to
return, meaning they are not forced to leave the Netherlands. As a result of the difference in
gender roles between Afghanistan and the Netherlands it was of significance to include women in
the research. Taking into account the influence a change of regime in Afghanistan might have on
the return consideration, we need Afghans resident in the Netherlands, from different periods of
flight. This prerequisite leads to the following scheme of an ideal research population.
Table 3 Hypothetical model of the research population
Male
Soviet Union
1979-1992
Mudjahedeen
1992-1996
Taliban
1996-2001
Female
Interim Regime 2001-present
About two Afghan participants out of every period of escape and gender category, are needed to
make an adequate analysis. The support from Afghan organisation may be useful to find Afghans
from these different categorisations, since they often share ethnicity or political engagement,
which is related to a certain period of flight.
4.2
INTERVIEWS
This paragraph elaborates on the manner in which motives and conditions influencing return
migration obtained from the theoretical background are translated into interview questions. To
32
gain insight into the personal views and perspectives of Afghans on the topic of re-migration, indepth semi-structured interviews 5 were conducted. In depth interviews are of importance because
of the need of time to talk about personal and emotional issues. The interviews are semistructured so they can be adapted to every individual according to the position in family, age,
gender, and political background.
During the interview, the following topics out of the theoretical framework are dealt with: unsafe
situation, poor economical infrastructure, reconstruction, gender, family ties and composition,
period of flight, job offer, language, feeling at home, nostalgia and distance.
When asking respondents about the future of Afghanistan and their own future, topics like the
unsafe situation, poor economical infrastructure, reconstruction, gender, job offer, language, and
feelings of nostalgia are discussed. By specific questions concerning family ties and composition
information about networks on the meso level will be obtained. By asking respondent when they
left Afghanistan, it is possible to categorise them by period of flight. Keeping in mind Kings
argument that migrants often mention non-economic factors, the respondents are asked if they
thought about migrating to a neighbouring country of Afghanistan. By alluding to this aspect of
choice within their flight to the Netherlands might bring to surface the economic aspects of their
migration decision. The question about a possible migration to a neighbouring country, deals
simultaneously with the aspect of distance to country of origin, which may also influence return
migration. A respondent's participation in Dutch society is measured by asking respondents about
their education or job, enrolment in organisations, and their sufficiency of the Dutch language.
An important aspect of the Afghan conflict is the belonging to a certain ethnic group.
Nevertheless, in regard of the small-scale research it was desirable to avoid generalisation on
ethnicity.
4.3
FIELDWORK
The course of the researchs fieldwork is described in this paragraph. The first Afghans willing to
participate were contacted through friends (4), family (3) and Afghan organisation and networks
(5). After these interviews, respondents were asked for other Afghans who might be willing to
participate (2). Afghan organisations in the Netherlands were approached to get in contact with
potential participants.
Interview appointments were combined with a drink or a meal, so there was ample time for both
the informal and formal part of the interview. The length of the meetings varied from one to six
hours. I met some participants more than once before the formal interview took place. When
5
Apendix: Topics of Interview with Afghan Refugees.
33
participants agree, recording is used during the interviews. After the interview the conversation is
transcribed and the qualitative data is analysed. A research diary is kept to reflect on personal
feelings, considerations and reflections during the interviews and throughout the rest of the
research.
Only two respondents felt a bit uncomfortable. One of them told me that he did not understand
why he had to tell his story again and again. I answered I only wanted him to participate if he was
willing to. We drank a cup of tea and I talked about my research and clarified that his fugitive
history was not of my interest after which he was willing to participate. On the other hand, others
were immediately willing to participate and were, to my judgement, very open about their
feelings and ideas. Several emotional moments took place during the interviews. Despite the
emotional issue, it did not upset the respondent or me. Most of the time the participants invited
me to their home. It was very easy to create an informal atmosphere, either at their place or in a
public area. It was a bit more challenging to establish rapport with the respondents who arrived in
the Netherlands only a few years ago. Their Dutch language skills were limited and some of them
had a more reserved attitude.
A bias in the participants was expected, namely language, since no interpreter was available.
Dutch speaking family members solved this language problem. Two interviews were conducted
with help of a Dutch speaking family member, as a result of which both non-Dutch and nonEnglish-speaking Afghans are included in this research
Through participation in activities of different Afghan organisations and presence at lectures
about Afghanistan, trust was gained and respondents were approached. Different meetings of
Afghan organisations were visited, among which the Afghan conference, the organisation of
Afghans in Utrecht, the European network for Afghan women, a meeting of Cross Your Borders
on the Afghan situation for Hazaras. The Afghan people were enthusiastic to support the research
and are interested in the research results.
4.4
RESPONDENTS
The last paragraph gives an overview of the interviewees who participated in this research. A
total of fourteen respondents were interviewed. Out of consideration for the anonymity of the
participants, real names will not be used. Considering Afghan names are related to ethnicity and
religion, these factors were taken into account when the names were changed. In table 3 the
characteristics of the respondents are presented.
34
Table 4 Characteristics of Respondents

Age
Sex
Year of flight
Year arrival in
Language
the Netherlands
Arman
26
Male
2003 (21-years-old)
2003
Dari/Pashto
Ajmal
23
Male
1999 (14-years-old)
2002
Dari
Rafeeq
21
Male
2001 (14-years-old)
2001
Dari
Aamir
26
Male
1992 (10-years-old)
1997
Dari
Wahid
26
Male
1996 (14-years-old)
1996
Dari
Jamila
20
Female
1999 (11-years-old)
1999
Dari
Najia
21
Female
1999 (12-years-old)
1999
Dari
Samira
23
Female
1997 (12-years-old)
1998
Dari/Pashto
Zohra
24
Female
1992 (8-years-old)
1997
Dari
Jawid
51
Male
2001
2001
Dari/Pashto
Omar
39
Male
1994
1997
Pashto/Dari
Emal
44
Male
1986
1987
Dari/Pashto
Aziza
46
Female
1999
1999
Dari
Mariam
48
Female
1993
1993
Dari
Table 4 shows the categorisation that was made for this research in the period of flight, age and
sex.
In the last column the language spoken by the respondent is mentioned as a result of an interview
that took place in the initial phase of the research. In that interview a respondent stated he did not
want to talk about ethnicities and he declared to be just an Afghan. This made me decide that not
the respondents ethnicity will be questioned, but the interviewees attitude towards ethnicities
will be taken into account. Nevertheless, the interview questions did focus on the different
languages a respondent spoke, another distinctive feature, but less divisive than ethnicity. For
instance, Afghans who speak Dari, belong to a certain ethnic group, among which Hazara,
Tadjieks, and Uzbeks.
35
Table 5 Period of Escape

Student
Male
Older/Adult
Female
Male
Female
Emal
Zohra
Omar
Mariam
Jamila
Aziza
Jawid
Soviet Union
1979-1992
Mudjahedeen
Aamir
1992-1996
Wahid
Taliban
Ajmal
1996-2001
Najia
Samira
Interim Regime
Arman
2001-present
Rafeeq
Despite the fact that it was not difficult to get in touch with Afghan people, we did not succeed,
due to limited time, to find a male and female respondent within every category. Since refugees
from the Soviet era left Afghanistan at least sixteen years ago, there is a rather small group of
Afghans from this period of flight who are currently students. Therefore, they are excluded from
the ideal research population. There is an overrepresentation of students, which might be
explained by the network effect. Although there were no Afghans in my direct network, Afghan
students were part of my friends networks. All of the students mentioned their parents in the
research, which gave an idea of the Dutch Afghan student as well as an idea about the parents of
these respondents. Men (8) and women (6) are included in the research; women, especially older
women, were more difficult to reach.
Though the group of respondents is rather small, we managed to get variety in sex, age, and
period of escape, which are the most useful factors for this research.
36
There is a reason behind why we moved to the other side of the world
CHAPTER 5
To answer the question What are motives and conditions for Afghan refugees, resident in the
Netherlands, to stay in the Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan? we need information on the
flight of Afghans to the Netherlands, the interviewees situation in the Netherlands and specific
conditions and motives to stay in the Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan such as: safety,
housing, education and family situation. These motives and conditions to stay or return are
influenced by the interviewees perspective of both the Netherlands and Afghanistan.
5.1
LEAVING AFGHANISTAN
Although this research intends to analyse the return from Europe to Afghanistan, most
respondents included stories about their reasons to escape Afghanistan. These reasons are
important in order to understand the motives and conditions that led them to migrate and, at the
same time, help question if these factors change in the country of origin, whether they might remigrate.
The flight to the Netherlands was one of the most difficult decisions in my parents life. They did
not flee from Afghanistan for their own safety. During war you are not afraid to die yourself, than
it would be over and your grief is gone. It is really getting hard when you loose your relatives. And
it was that fear that prompted my parents to leave Kabul.
(Aamir, 26, student)
Other respondents stated the same; people are not worried about their own lives. As the quote
below shows, they are especially concerned about women and children.
Afghans are afraid that their wife will be raped, their daughters are taken and awful things
happen to them, which do not fit within their norms. The main reason to leave, beside the unsafe
situation for women mentioned above, is education for their children. There is a reason behind
their emigration to the other side of the world.
(Zohra, 24, student)
37
Education, a symbol for giving your children a good future, played an important role in the
decision to move to Europe. An older respondent who left Afghanistan with two children is clear
about why she did not move to a neighbouring country, but to Europe;
When we decided to leave Afghanistan, I was in a very bad situation; war raged in Kabul, I
suffered from serious depressions and I was pregnant. The external world did not exist, only my
children who I wanted to protect. I wanted to move somewhere, where I did not have to meet the
facets I escaped from.
(Mariam, 48, mother)
For example, in Pakistan or Iran both the limited independence for women as well as appropriate
education for her children would again have been an obstacle. Moving to Europe secures not only
a safe future but it also instils the desire to provide children with high-quality education. These
mixed motivations (Castles and Miller, 1999) make it difficult to distinguish between economic
and forced migrants. A UN report concluded, the mixture of fears hopes, and aspirations which
prompt migrants to leave their homes can be impossible to unravel (Marfleet, 2006:13). In
addition, as Faist (1997) mentioned, refugees have alternatives in improving their life situation.
So related to this case, some Afghans were forced to escape Afghanistan, but some of them had
the choice of moving to a neighbouring country or moving to the West. The high skilled and rich
Afghans were able to move to, for example, the Netherlands.
The highly skilled people, they have work, they have money, and are the first ones to get into
trouble. They are aware of their life and do not just accept situations like suicide bombing in order
to pray together with prophet Mohammed or the prohibition to shake a womans hand.
(Wahid, 27, student)
Five of the fourteen respondents have fled within the Afghan borders or to a neighbouring
country before migrating to Europe. Their attempt to stay in or near Afghanistan illustrates the
impediment for fleeing a country of origin.
38
My father, a high skilled man, felt the responsibility to stay in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan
after his flight into Pakistan. When the war would be over, Afghanistan would need him and all the
other highly skilled people to reconstruct their country. But when in 1996 the Taliban took over
Kabul, we knew that Afghanistan was uninhabitable for us and we had to be realistic and without
emotion, recognize you cannot return to Afghanistan and we have to migrate to Europe.
At the moment people decide to move to Europe, nearly all respondents argue that it is a
permanent displacement. It is not easy to return, if you think about what people have done before
they were able to arrive here. People who moved to the West must be extremely rich or, as most
of them, must have sold their house in order to fund their travel to Europe.
Two respondents told more about their escape strategies. One family chose specifically for the
Netherlands because there was no Afghan consul in the Netherlands yet. This implied that no list
was made of Afghans residing in the Netherlands, which appeared safer to some refugees. An
additional example of a clearly defined migration project is the following: Wahid declared how
Germany used to be a favoured country of destination. However, for some years Germany did not
recognize the Afghan government or Afghan refugees. Consequently, a shift took place from
Germany in the direction of other European countries as a country of destination. Overall, five
respondents explained their specific choice for the Netherlands and not for Iran and Pakistan.
Others stated there was no such thing as a clear decision and migration goal. The only thing that
occupied their mind was leaving Afghanistan. None of the respondents were certain of their
return to Afghanistan upon their escape to the Netherlands. The option to remigrate at a later
stage is, in this case, not part of a clearly defined migration project.
Interviewees indicated safety, education for their children and improved situation for women as
the main reasons to leave Afghanistan and move to Europe, in particular, the Netherlands.
5.2
In this paragraph we treat two interview themes - firstly the respondents drive to participate in
Dutch society and secondly their contact with other Afghans - which occurred several times
during various interviews and which are relevant to understand the context within which the
interviewees consider return.
39
All respondents display an enormous drive to participate in Dutch society. They all tried to
internalize the language, to do volunteer work, to study or to found organisations. With an
attitude of perseverance they manage, for example, to acquire the right certificates enabling them
to find a Dutch job they studied for in Afghanistan. In their choice of education, social concern
and awareness manifest. As one respondent explains, as a refugee, you are often more aware of
society than other people of the same age. People who left war or conflict areas deal in a different
way with their life. More specifically:
I have gone through a lot of misery in my country of origin, and that makes me willing to
contribute to society or support people who have problems.
Upon the question why the respondent had opted for a certain type of education, six out of nine
students evinced their international ambitions. Besides the international perspective, most studies
and professions of the interviewees contained a care-taking element. These interviewees study
medical science, psychology, and political science in order to contribute to human health or
taking care of state development. As a last point, students, sometimes motivated by their parents,
were looking for a direction of studies offering a good future perspective. Choosing their studies
they looked for a secure future with various opportunities.
5.2.1
Ethnic Identity and Contact with Other Afghans
This paragraph sheds light on how different Afghan ethnicities, as presented in the background
chapter, still influence relationships of Afghans in the Netherlands. Most respondents made clear
that the Afghan does not exist and they emphasized the existence of different groups; Pashtun,
Tadjiek, Uzbek and Hazaras. In addition, Afghanistan has known different periods of refugee
flight, resulting in a refugee population with a myriad of ideologies and political commitment
spread out over the world. As shown in chapter 1, the three political currents are another reason
why Afghans are rather reserved towards one another. However, especially the ethnic differences
are problematic. To illustrate the existing tension a respondent told about an Afghan shop in his
Dutch neighbourhood. He often went to this shop until the owner one day started to speak Pashto
to him.
40
I asked the shop owner to continue in Dari or Dutch because I could not understand Pashto. The
owner refused and continued speaking Pashto. What can I do? Now I avoid such a shop. These
tensions make that I only have contact with my close friends.
Half of the respondents demonstrated a reserved attitude towards other Afghans. For three
respondents the mutual struggles caused by various ethnicities or different political engagement
are a reason to avoid contact with other Afghans.
With people you do not know thoroughly you have to be careful about what you say and do.
Between Dutch people you have the same, but for Afghan people this differentiation (in ethnicity
and political engagement) is more important. The war and everything that happened during these
years comes between new relationships; that is why you have to be careful.
On the other hand, nine out of fourteen participants have a lot of contact with other Afghans in
the Netherlands. There are many different organisations and a common joke among Afghans is
that all Afghans are an organisation on their own. Besides the organisations based on a particular
ethnicity there are organisations in which different ethnicities get along quite well. Especially the
younger people are trying to overcome the ethnic boundaries. They want to leave behind what
their parents have gone through to prevent continuation of the post-war relational problems
resulting from ethnical and political differences.
5.3
CONDITIONS AND MOTIVES TO STAY OR RETURN
It is worthwhile to investigate how respondents compare the current situation in Afghanistan with
the situation of the Afghanistan they escaped. Push and pull factors change throughout time,
which might influence their decision to re-migrate from or stay within the Netherlands. When the
situation in the country of origin is still the same or has even deteriorated since refugees left the
country of origin, it is reasonable that they are not willing to return. There is room for reflection
on the conditions and motives, mentioned by interviewees as main reasons for their flight: safety,
education and the lack of emancipation for women. Are these conditions and motives still factors
that make a stay in the Netherlands more attractive than a return to Afghanistan? Besides the
aspects that compelled people to flee from Afghanistan, there are other aspects that make them
stay in the Netherlands. Some are related to the situation in Afghanistan while others have taken
shape during their stay in the Netherlands. This section presents those conditions and motives on
41
macro, meso and micro level that the respondents took into consideration debating whether to
return to Afghanistan or to stay in the Netherlands
5.3.1
Macro Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on Return Migration
In table 6 the four main motives on macro level are listed, which are discussed successively in
this paragraph.
Table 6 Conditions and Motives on Macro Level
Conditions
Motives
Level of Maslows
Pyramid
Macro
Political structure
Unsafe Situation
Physiological needs
Structural Economic structure
Poor economical infrastructure
Safety needs
level
Reconstruction
Social structure
Gender relations
Unsafe Situation in Afghanistan

In this research the interpretations of the Afghans in the Netherlands are more important than a
detailed analysis of the actual situation that is subject to their interpretation. All respondents state
that Afghanistan is still unsafe. But differences are clear between various areas and the
interpretation of safety differs per respondent. For Arman, 26 years old, safety meant: freedom of
speech, being able to work, and a feeling of safety means also that you cannot be kicked down in
the streets and finally that all weapons should be collected and destroyed. Other unsafe aspects
that are mentioned:
It is bad for the situation in Afghanistan that warriors still have weapons, there are many terror
attacks and Afghanistan is a laboratory for the Islamic countries, the Islamic countries like to
make Afghanistan a very bad country.
(Jawid, 64 years old)
42
In sum, most respondents consider Afghanistan unsafe and according to some of them the
situation even deteriorated since they left the country. About voluntary return migration Aimal
(23) is unambiguous: I would encourage no one to return to Afghanistan; it is still very unsafe.
He explained that based on his appearance he will be thought an Afghan over there, but when he
would open his mouth, people would notice that he is not one of them; he is too westernised. Not
only the idea of safety might have been reshaped during a stay in the Netherlands, turning Dutch
might in fact decrease ones safety in Afghanistan.
Safety is a condition that deeply influences various structures in the Afghan society. Therefore
this condition is interwoven with other conditions and motives that influence respondents
consideration on return migration and is again mentioned in paragraphs below. For example, part
of the unsafe situation is the lack of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is a civil liberty that
influences many aspects of social life. Especially after a period in the Netherlands, restrictions on
this level are conditions that dissuade from return migration.
I see my future in the Netherlands; I am alienated from Afghanistan, the country and the culture.
I developed a whole range of ideas. If I would talk to an Afghan refugee who just arrived in the
Netherlands, within fifteen minutes we would have a quarrel. The lack of freedom and a real
democracy are the biggest impediments for anyone who wants to return.
(Wahid, 26 years old)
This impediment, mentioned by most respondents, seems to be even more substantial for women.
Jamila, 23 years old, argued that she loves argumentations and discussions. Perpetuation of this is
supposedly unthinkable in Afghanistan, especially for a woman. According to her, they base
everything on Islam while for me not religion, but my own identity is the basis for the
developments in my life. To live according to Islamic rules, the limitation of having to attend an
Islamic school and the obligation to pray all day discourage respondents to return.
Poor Economical Infrastructure
An often mentioned problem, related to the second factor of table 6 economic infrastructure, of
the actual situation in Afghanistan is the issue of corruption. Respondents wondered where all the
money that other countries contributed to Afghanistan has gone, as well as the money from the
opium cultivation. It is important to realise that this is an assessment, not so much of the
economical infrastructure of Afghanistan, but rather of the respondents view thereof. According
43
to many respondents the gap between poor and rich is growing in Afghanistan. As Jawid, 64
years old mentioned: In Afghanistan there are rich people, unlike anyone in Europe. While in
the meantime, Jawid argued, other people have no electricity, are not able to attend school, have
not enough food - let alone that they are employed properly. Furthermore, opinions about the
interim regime varied. While only one respondent considered the new situation as the classic
example of nation building, others are worried. Jawid argued, A chef of the police used to be a
Talib or Mudjahedeen warrior and now he is a democrat. One person? It is not possible!
According to ten respondents previous Mudjahedeen and Taliban warriors are in power now and
people are still oppressed by them. Violence deeply influences the economic conditions of a
country. People flee because they are afraid of the violence, but also because they are unable to
survive owing to the disruption of the economy (Ferris, 1993:170). As the statement of Ferris
shows, factors that influence migration are often interwoven. The following paragraph shows how
poor economic conditions in a country affect many aspects of a countrys infrastructure, among
which, housing.
The extremely expensive houses in Afghanistan are another reason for respondents to stay in the
Netherlands. Some of the respondents former houses have been bombed and others were sold to
cover the travel costs. According to respondents, the growing gap between rich and poor boosts
the house prices. People do not have the money to rebuild their houses and without housing there
is no building a future. The real estate prices did increase tremendously. For people who want to
return permanently, housing in Afghanistan is a big problem. As a respondent explained;
The land price in Kabul, in a better area, is 400 euro per square meter. In Doetinchem it would
be 300 euro per square meter. The average income in Doetinchem is 29.000 euro per year while in
Afghanistan the average is around 300 euro per year.
Wahids observation is corroborated by De Bree (2008:13-14), urban areas in Kabul suffer from a
shortage of housing. Lack of ownership is quite an issue for returnees from Western societies.
None of the respondents in her study were able to buy a house upon return.
44
Reconstruction
The third macro motive in table 6 was the need for reconstruction and the respondents possibility
or possibility to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The respondents entertained various
views regarding the current situation and future of Afghanistan. Still, each participant is aware of
the brain drain and the need for reconstruction of post-war Afghanistan. The wish to contribute to
the reconstruction of Afghanistan is for many respondents a motivation to return. An important
effect on the intellectual climate of Afghanistan of mass-migration is brain drain. In the
Netherlands most Afghan refugees are highly skilled, just as the Afghan refugees in the rest of
Europe, the United States and Canada. Nearly all respondents were aware of the fact that
Afghanistan needs the high skilled people that escaped the country.
One of the reasons why my father stayed in Kabul until 1992 he could have left a lot earlier
was his conviction that Afghanistan needed him, as the country needed all other highly skilled
people. And he thought that all other highly skilled individuals had to return. The country had to
be rebuilt; there were people with neither clean drinking water, nor electricity, nor education.
(Aamir, 26. student)
The acquisition of highly skilled Afghans to Afghanistan is essential for the development of
Afghanistan. The International Organisation of Migration started with the program Temporary
Return of Qualified Nationals (TRQN) to fill the lack of expertise resulting from the brain drain.
Migrants can return to their country of origin with the knowledge and experience they acquired in
the Netherlands (IOM, 2008:14). Since the program started in 2007 and has run for just one year,
it appears too early to try and decide whether the programme meets the wishes of Afghans willing
to return temporarily.
As a result of the unsafe situation and the family situation mentioned in chapter 5, most of the
respondents who want to return consider only temporary return.
Because a chance has been given to me, it feels as a duty to develop myself and give something in
return. For example, to move to Afghanistan for one or two months per year and perform some
surgeries for free or build a clinic.
(Zohra, 24, student)
Seven respondents explicitly mentioned their wish to help rebuild their country of origin. It is a
striking point that especially they, and not their parents are concerned about reconstruction. The
45
choice of studies is often influenced by the motivation to work internationally and the wish to
support Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan. This sentiment of solidarity revealed itself in
the interviews, combined with a feeling of reciprocal obligation.
As a refugee, asylum seeker or someone who was forced to leave the country you will always
have a kind of solidarity. You will always have the feeling that you must do something in return so
others will not experience the same as that, which you have been through.
Particularly the students were aware of the opportunities that have been given to them. They are
highly encouraged to pick up their studies and they are concerned about their country of origin.
Two respondents mentioned that they became more aware of their country of origin when they
grew older. Just after their migration they took their stay in the Netherlands for granted and they
were not interested in the situation of Afghanistan.
When I was younger I felt that of course I am not going to support Afghanistan. That country did
not give me anything. The Netherlands was fine, so why should I? But now I am aware that we
have to return and support the people in Afghanistan. You cannot abandon your own country.
The above-mentioned citation is worth taking into consideration, as it shows how this
respondents conception of commitment changed during his lifetime. After a period of neglecting
Afghanistan, Aamir is preparing a short trip to Afghanistan as a possible start for permanent
return. It shows the thin line between committing to and ignoring the country of birth. The other
way around, from committing to ignoring, might probably work with the same ease. Refugees
might be dedicated to their country of origin, but when for example children are born, their focus
shifts to a future in the host country. Most people probably stay in between these two extremes;
nevertheless during a lifetime refugees may keep changing their opinion and dedication to their
country of origin.
In addition to mere feelings of solidarity and reciprocity, some respondents were already involved
in projects or thinking about future projects to contribute to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Six of them were thinking about moving to Afghanistan after finishing their studies.
46
I do not know exactly what I will do after my studies, but of course I prefer to return to
Afghanistan. Upon my return, I hope to find a job, it does not matter what kind of job and what I
get paid, if I just can be in Afghanistan.
These plans are quite vague compared to those of two students who will return to Afghanistan
this summer. Omar (37) returned last summer and regularly retuned over the past years. Aziza
(46) returned some years ago to visit family and she plans to return this summer or next year. The
four who actually planned to return or returned last years, organised accommodation, made
contacts with family and organisations, saved money, took vaccinations and took security
measures. Other respondents were busy with so-called projects of awareness, gathered clothes to
ship to Afghanistan and did research on Afghanistan.
When choosing my studies in the back of my mind I kept the wish to do something for Afghanistan
in the near future. Although I spent most of my life outside of Afghanistan, it is my country of birth
and the country of my parents. Now, during my studies, I take interest in human rights and I am
doing a research on reconciliation in Afghanistan.
(Aimal, 23, student)
Although people are willing to return to support the reconstruction, there are some difficulties.
Elderly people, who are willing to return temporarily, have some difficulties with their social
security benefit. Leaving the country means a stop of income and problems for the family that
stays behind. As Zia Gulam of the International Organisation of Migration exemplified, when
people of working age leave the Netherlands for more than 28 days, their social security benefit
will be stopped. According to Gulam, Based on our experience there are many single, highskilled Afghans who want to return, but the lack of income is a serious impediment for most of
them.
Gender
The last motive of table 6 is the influence of gender relations in Afghanistan quite different
from the gender relations in the Netherlands. All female respondents mentioned the fact that they
would not be able to live their lives in Afghanistan in the way they currently can in the
Netherlands. Some of them mentioned that they would not be able to work officially, while others
hope to work temporarily in Afghanistan in the future. Still there are problems for women, like
47
limited education, scarce working possibilities and domestic violence. Aziza, 54 years old: Life
in Afghanistan is very difficult. I cannot live there on my own. Officially, I am not allowed to
work and the educational possibilities are very poor. In the Netherlands, the Afghan women
were confronted with a completely different sexual attitude. In most cases they experienced more
freedom in the Netherlands. As Omar stated:
As a macho Afghan, I sometimes do have mixed feelings. Nevertheless most of the times I cook
and do other housekeeping tasks, but I do not iron clothes.
(Omar, 37 years old)
When returning to Afghanistan these reshaped roles might change back to traditional patterns.
When Omar and his wife have Afghan guests over, he admits: I adapt as a chameleon to traditional
gender patterns and I will let my wife cook. Returning to Afghanistan might imply returning to
traditional gender roles, which particularly influences the female returnees considerations.
The news coverage of Afghanistan, also on the conditions for women, is quite poor and
unreliable. As mentioned before, not the actual, but the expected conditions in Afghanistan are of
importance for analysing the decision to return or stay. As Jamila (23) told, when they know that
you are a young girl form Europe, they would rather eat you alive. Mariam (48) is really
concerned about the position of women in Afghanistan and stated how others men always
decide on the rights and duties of women. I am lucky that my father and husband are quite
liberal, but there are many women that are limited in every step they take. Zohra, 24 years old,
explained how she is motivated to finish her studies and start a career and that fulfilling this
passion would be impossible in Afghanistan. Two female respondents were willing to return
permanently, nevertheless they both indicated that they were currently not ready to return. One
female respondent, willing to return, was in doubt and first wanted to know and feel how her
living circumstances in Afghanistan might be. This subject will be dealt with more thoroughly in
the next chapter.
5.3.2
Meso Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on Return Migration
As announced in the theory section, the motives on the meso level, which include those that deal
with networks, family and belonging, are described in the following paragraph.
48
Table 7 Conditions and Motives on Meso level

Meso
Relational level
Conditions Motives
Level of Maslows Pyramid
Networks
Belonging needs
Family Ties
Family Composition
Feeling at home
Period of flight
Table 7 shows the four motives on meso level. The four motives are explained subsequently,
starting with family ties.
Family Ties
To understand the influence of family ties in the consideration to stay or to return it is important
to know that Afghan families are often scattered all over the world.
My parents are like foreigners in Afghanistan. All other family members live across the world:
United States, Europe, and Canada etc.
Although many Afghan families are living across the world, most respondents have at least some
family members in Afghanistan. If possible they keep in touch through email, telephone or in
some cases visits to Afghanistan. Aziza, 48 years old, who returned to Afghanistan to see her
family, clearly stated that there is nothing else she would return for. She would prefer to stay
with her family in Afghanistan. As one of her daughters adds, her lack of Dutch proficiency
increases her wish to return and increases the longing for contact with her family.
Omars family is still living in Afghanistan. He lost his two older brothers, so he is the oldest
now. As a result he feels an intensified responsibility for his familys wellbeing. Despite the fact
that his family understands that he has his own life in the Netherlands now, this remains a
difficult situation for him. His inability to take care of his family in Afghanistan is something he
misses considerably. Family ties can work as pull factors, but lack of family can cause the
opposite effect. The lack of relatives in Afghanistan is for one respondent a reason never to
return. The Taliban has killed his family, which leaves nothing for him in Afghanistan.
49
Childrens Perspectives
The second subject on meso level is the family composition. This paragraph deals with the influence
children have on the motives to stay or to return.
At this moment I am unable to return. As a person I built my life in Afghanistan, after this I
rebuilt it for 15 years in the Netherlands, I am not able to cope once again with rebuilding my life.
I am not a hero and I will choose for my family and my own security.
(Mariam, 48 years old)
As mentioned before in the paragraph about leaving Afghanistan, children were often an
important factor in deciding to migrate to Europe. The same is true for return migration. Three
respondents claimed they would return to Afghanistan if their children did not keep them here in
the Netherlands. The high standard of Dutch education and the low standards of education in
Afghanistan were reason to migrate for many respondents. There was no respondent who was
positive about the actual conditions of the educational system in Afghanistan, which is a motive
for Afghans to stay in the Netherlands. Especially when respondents think about their children or
future children, they want to provide them with useful skills, which make return less realistic. I
will never restrict my children by keeping them in Afghanistan. There has been limited education
for thirty years, which resulted in many illiterate citizens. It will take a long time before
Afghanistan is on the level of thirty years ago. Rafeeq (22) has never been to school in
Afghanistan. According to him, Afghanistan has low standards of education; Islamic schools or
no schools. The Islam is often the only source of knowledge and the intelligentsia has fled.
Another respondent elaborated on the same subject: on how young boys are indoctrinated by
Muslim extremists.
A boy in a remote part of Afghanistan who has not the slightest notion of the rest of the world and is only
educated with religion, could see a suicide bombing as his opportunity to do the evening prayer together
with prophet Mohammed.
This example shows how education is related to safety and how unsafety impedes education. We
can see how macro factors, in this example education, interact with meso factors as the interest of
family and children.
50
Feeling at Home
Another aspect on the meso level corresponding with the level Maslow dubbed belonging is
feeling at home. Most respondents state that they feel at home in the Netherlands. Important
conditions for feeling at home are the language, contacts and ability to work. Considering these
aspects, it seems logical that over the years people feel more and more at home. Mariam
explained: in the beginning it was difficult because of the language, culture and my position in
the Netherlands and society.
While most respondents will agree with this idea, some mentioned that they have felt more at
home in the beginning. After changes in the Dutch integration policy, they do not feel welcome
anymore. According to respondents, media sowed distrust and this affects the interethnic
relations. Emal expressed his worries concerning the increasingly hostile attitude in Dutch society
towards foreigners. On the other hand they feel connected to the Netherlands as the country that
gave them shelter and where some of them grew up. Wahid noted: I do not believe there is
another country where I would be more at home than in the Netherlands.
The respondents that feel at home are integrated in the social, economical and other parts of
Dutch society. Although Jamila, 23 years old, has been given the opportunity to leave the
Netherlands and go for study and work abroad, she did not want to: the Netherlands is my second
home.
Period of Flight
The last motive on the meso level mentioned in table 7 is period of flight. Ethnical identity and
political engagement both conditions on the meso level are often strongly related to period of
flight. For instance, when the Mudjahedeen gained power, Marxist Afghans were a large part of
the refugees who leaving the country during that years. To see whether the period of flight has
influence on the decision to return the respondents are ordered in a table in the next chapter. The
analysis in the next chapter sheds light on the influence a certain period of flight might have on
the decision to return to Afghanistan or stay in the Netherlands.
51
5.3.3
Micro Conditions and Motives Influencing Decision on Return Migration
The last level of our model, the micro level, includes psychological factors as table 8 shows.
Table 8 Conditions and Motives on Micro Level
Conditions
Motives
Level of Maslows
Pyramid
Micro
Psychological
Esteem needs
Individual
factors
Difficulties with
Self Actualization
level
language
Nostalgia
Emotional Motives
Language Problems and Job Offer

Before I learnt the language, all Dutch words were staggering, like they still do for my mother.
(Najia, 22 years old)
As Hessels (2004) mentioned, most first generation Afghans have problems with learning the
Dutch language and so did my respondents. However, eleven out of fourteen respondents spoke
Dutch fluently, probably due to the relatively high number of students within the group of
participants. Especially the elderly had more difficulties, while students who arrived here during
their childhood quickly learned the language through their integration in schools.
After family reunion, I was willing to learn the language and eager to study or work, but
unfortunately due to the Dutch migration procedure I was not allowed to do so. I could well
have slept all day, because there was nothing to do for me.
(Aimal, 23 years old)
This respondent was the only student who encountered such problems. In contrast the older
respondents and parents of respondents were all familiar with problems like learning the
language, commencing a study, finding a way and establishing a position within Dutch society.
52
When we moved to the Netherlands, my father had to quit his job. He has gone through a very
difficult situation in the Netherlands. As a dignified diplomat he became a refugee who had to
stand in a queue for food. This situation deeply affected him and made him feel very bad.
(Zohra, 24 years old)
The most important problem is the adaptation to being a refugee, how to maintain traditional
definitions of self and society when the day-to-day framework of life is one of benign
complacency (Edwards, 1986:321). Families arriving in the Netherlands encountered, to a certain
extent, these kinds of difficulties; family members had to quit their previous job, redo studies or
they encountered lingual troubles.
My father was a family doctor in Afghanistan. Arriving in the Netherlands he was not yet able to
work as a doctor here. Preceding the university entry examination he passed his language tests.
He went to University and did various traineeships, subsequently he received his official
recognition and he became a doctor.
(Jamila, 21 years old)
Currently, Jamilas father prefers to live in the Netherlands, while before he found a job, he was
still longing for a life in Afghanistan where he at least could be a doctor. If this man had not had
such opportunities aided by his own perseverance, it is questionable whether he would have
discarded his old longing of returning to Afghanistan. Additionally, another respondent used to be
a doctor in Afghanistan. When he arrived in the Netherlands he started to study medicine at the
University of Amsterdam, nevertheless he could not summon the courage to redo the whole study
again. This respondent, who is working below his actual capability, has a strong desire to return.
In sum, the respondents (7) who could immediately start with education or work could easily
integrate, while others (7) encountered problems finding work and thus encountered more
problems with rebuilding their lives within Dutch society, illustrated by above-mentioned
citations.
When my father was not able to work in the Netherlands he argued that, if we had still been in
Afghanistan, at least he would have had a job and would have been able to support people.
(Najia, 22 years old)
People have a particular urge to make themselves useful and they need recognition from others.
These human needs are illustrated in Maslows pyramid. When basic needs, such as food and
53
safety are fulfilled, people aspire acceptance and recognition. As several respondents mentioned,
status is of significance for most of the high-skilled Afghan refugees.
My grandfather was a police officer, lived in a huge house and my father went to University. If
we had still lived in Afghanistan, we would have lived in a big house.
(Jamila, 21 years old)
When migrants cannot meet these human needs for themselves in the host country, while they
were used to needs like recognition in the country of origin, it is assumed that their wish to return
will be stronger. Although status and recognition are not basic human needs, they affect the
wellbeing of people. Hessels & Wassie, (2003:40) confirm these findings with their research on
Afghan refugees, when they indicated that a good job is of great importance for Afghans. When
they are not able to pursue the professional career they aspire, it results in frustration.
Nostalgia
Are you cold? Shall I give you a blanket? I have been feeling cold for eleven years.
(Omar, 37 years old)
A respondent who left Afghanistan eleven years ago made the above statement, showing that he
misses amicability in the Netherlands. Various respondents longed for various features of
Afghanistan: the quiet environment, flying kites, family parties, meetings, traditions, hospitality,
the lack of emotional value attributed to money, and a life without stress.
The word stress cannot be translated in any Afghan language. As a result the concept of time
and time pressure does not exist in Afghanistan as it exists in the Netherlands. After leaving
Afghanistan, I have never felt the freedom of not being fixed to a clock anymore.
(Aamir, 26 years old)
Although the memories of Afghanistan were quite strong, no respondent explicitly mentioned
these desires as an incentive to return. Emal, 44 years old, mentioned how he longed for a country
of his own. According to him, over the last ten years negative sentiment towards foreigners
increased in the Netherlands. Beside the specific situation in the Netherlands Tabori argued to
live in exile is to live as an alien, and, perhaps, in a state of misery (1972:31). As Emal
explained, discrimination in the host country creates a stronger wish for ones own country, in
this case Afghanistan.
54
Emotional Motives
A motive not mentioned in the theories on return migration, but several times mentioned by
interviewees is the emotional aspect of return to Afghanistan. The parents of Zohra, 24 years old,
have planned to go to Afghanistan during the summer of 2008. Her first reaction was Have you
thought about the emotions which will occur when you return? She told that she would not be
ready for return herself. The Afghanistan she remembers is the country with her friends, the
neighbours, the warmth that used to be there. I do not know what will happen with me if I go
back to my house and the surrounding buildings are bombed or I hear that one of my school
friends has died. People are not only materially damaged; they are also emotionally damaged.
These intense emotions, mentioned by six respondents, restrain them from returning.
Summing up we have treated interviewees reasoning ordered into macro, meso and micro factors
which all play a role in the decision to return or not. In the next chapter we will try to find out the
order of these motives.
55
CHAPTER 6 PERMANENTLY SETTLED OR WAITING FOR RETURN?
Chapter 5 considered motives and conditions of Afghan refugees to stay in the Netherlands or to
return to Afghanistan. Respondents from different ages, sexes, family composition, period of
escape and duration of stay in the Netherlands had various intentions concerning a possible
return. A detailed explanation of the various factors can be found in chapter 5. The current
chapter focuses on the structure of motives and conditions of Afghan refugees. Which motives
and conditions are crucial in the decision to return and on which level micro, meso or macro
do they occur? Accordingly, this chapter covers the following question: Do the return motives
and conditions of Afghan refugees coincide with the classification of Maslows human needs? In
other words, is there a hierarchy from macro to micro conditions influencing return?
Consequently, after analysing which motivations and conditions play a major role in the
consideration of return, these are associated with Maslows ordering of human needs. In 6.3 the
last research question will be answered: When Afghan refugees are willing to return, will they
actually return? Do the Afghan respondents only indicate an intention to return or are they also
ready for an actual return to Afghanistan?
6.1
STRUCTURING OF MOTIVES AND CONDITIONS
In chapter 5, the different factors that influence the respondents decision to return - or not - are
described with various quotations. In this chapter an overview of the interviewees motives are
given in table 4 and 5. It is useful to distinguish arguments to stay from arguments to return.
Therefore table 4 summarises conditions and motives favouring to stay in the Netherlands. Table
5 shows the factors that stimulated the respondents to return to Afghanistan. Since the above
chapter showed a discrepancy in influential motives of parents and students for instance the
wish to reconstruct it is valuable to make a distinction between these two groups. A dotted line
divides the upper half of student respondents and the lower half of elderly respondents.
Furthermore, respondents who are not willing to return permanently nor temporarily are coloured
red. The respondents that returned lately or prepared a return in the near future are coloured blue.
The numbers behind the respondents names, represent the period of flight ranging from 1)
escaped during Soviet invasion; 2) escaped during Taliban regime; 3) escaped during
Mudjahedeen era; to 4) escaped the interim regime.
56
Table 9 Factors to stay in the Netherlands

Unsafe
Freedom of
Poor economic
situation
speech
infrastructure
Education
Afghanistan
Feeling at
Emotional
home in the
motives
Unweighed6
Weighed
4,5
13
10
Netherlands
Arman 4
Rafeeq 4
Ajmal 3
Jamila 3
12
Najia
11
Samira 3
14
Aamir 2
Wahid 2
Zohra
Jawid
Aziza
Mariam 2
Omar
Emal
+/+
+
+
+
+/-
4,5
13
12
+
+
+/-
+/-
1,5
3,5
* A + indicates the that that factor makes the respondent willing to stay in the Netherlands. A - indicates that that
factor is a motive not to stay. A +/- indicates that it is both a motive to stay as well as to return at the same time. No
sign implies that the respondent has not explicitly mentioned the factor in a consideration to stay or return.
Table 10 Factors to return to Afghanistan

Wish to
Social
Discrimination
support
Capital
in host country
reconstruction
Afghanistan
Nostalgia
Job
Difficulties
offer
Dutch
below
language
Unweighed
Weighed
2,5
4,5
actual
level
Arman
+/-
Rafeeq 4
4,5
+/-
1,5
3,5
+/-
1,5
Ajmal
+/-
Jamila
Najia
Samira
Aamir
Wahid
Zohra
Jawid
Aziza
Mariam
Omar
Emal
+/-
+/-
2,5
2,5
* Table 5, a + indicates the that that factor makes the respondent willing to return to Afghanistan. A - indicates that
that factor is a motive not to return. A +/- indicates that it is a motive to stay and to return at the same time. No sign
implies that the respondent has not explicitly mentioned the factor in a consideration to stay or return.
6
The weighed and unweighed scores used in this table are explained and analysed in 6.2
57
In the following paragraphs table 5 and table 6 are analysed by looking at conspicuous outcomes.
By looking at the + and - in the table, different patterns can be found. For instance, there are
many plusses found in the column unsafe situation Afghanistan. This means that the unsafe
situation in Afghanistan is an important condition for Afghan refugees considering return
migration. The striking patterns in motives and conditions are found in the unsafe situation, the
poor economic infrastructure, studentss wish to support the reconstruction, social capital, period
of flight, feeling at home, and nostalgia. These conditions are described successively.
6.1.1
A Country at War
Regarding the column on safety from table 4, it shows that the unsafe situation in Afghanistan is
the clearest significant condition, which encourages nearly all respondents to stay in the
Netherlands. Thirteen respondents have a + and only one respondent has not talked about it.
Besides one exception all the respondents mentioned the unsafe situation in Afghanistan as a
condition, which makes return complicated or even impossible. The three respondents who
definitely do not want to return, all mentioned the unsafe situation as the crucial condition in their
decision to stay. The unsafe situation, as described in the previous chapter, influences various
aspects of the Afghan society. An aspect of the unsafe situation in Afghanistan mentioned by
eight respondents is the lack of freedom of speech in Afghanistan. They are not allowed to freely
express their opinion in Afghanistan in the way they are in the Netherlands, violent repression is
feared by many. Behaviour that does not take into account these restrictions is often oppressed
with violence. The poor economic infrastructure, mentioned by ten out of fourteen respondents is
also strongly related to the unsafe situation. The three respondents who do not have the intention
to return all mentioned the aspect of poor economical infrastructure as a condition to stay in the
Netherlands. While different types of respondents mention the poor economical infrastructure as
a condition stimulating thoughts of return, the students distinctly mention the aspect of education.
For themselves and their future children, education is an important condition in considering
return. While parents often mentioned the poor educational conditions as a reason to migrate to
the Netherlands, four of them did not mention education as a condition influencing their intention
to stay in the Netherlands. In the analysis of this table, another discrepancy between parents and
students regarding the wish to support the reconstruction is visible. The following paragraph
deals with the aspect of reconstruction, which can be found in table 5.
58
6.1.2
Students and Reconstruction
Another conspicuous point from the tables is the strong motivation of students in contrast with
the elderly, to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Seven out of nine students, including
four girls, thought they could help in reconstructing their country. In contrast, only one of the five
older respondents thought so. Aamir expressed why the support of Afghan students resident in the
Netherlands might be valuable in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan.
Afghan youth in the Netherlands has something that we really need in Afghanistan. They do not
bear a grudge against others and are not vindictive. They just want to support the reconstruction
of Afghanistan. What has happened in the past is irrelevant, we all suffered terribly and we must
prevent others form suffering the same.
In contrast, parents according to student respondents are often not able to put aside the
memory of what they have been through.
Our parents, unfortunately, with all respect, are vindictive. They have been intensely manipulated
and abused, not only by the Afghan people but also through superpowers outside Afghanistan. We
have to admit that our parents have gone through things we did not witness and we have to learn
from this.
Aamir showed with an anecdote how he wants to fight for a better Afghanistan. When he was
younger he was watching a television program where an Afghan refugee returned after years in
exile to his house.
Standing in front of the house, which was burnt down, the reporter asked the Afghan man what he
would do if he met the people who did this to him. He answered that he had to think about it for a
while, because the people who made him suffer this terribly, needed an extremely excruciating
death.
59
A few weeks later the respondent saw a similar program. Instead of returning to Afghanistan the
program showed the return of a South African farmer to his house where they raped his wife,
killed her and his children.
The question was asked; what would you do with the people that made you suffer this badly? The
African man answered: for a better South Africa I am prepared to forgive.
This citation shows how suffering can be converted into a drive to reconstruct. The reasons why
the students have such a strong motivation to support the reconstruction are complicated. In
contrast to their parents, their ability to overcome political and ethnic boundaries might be
explained by the fact that the students left Afghanistan when they were young, which spared them
the enormous impact of a country at war. According to Emal (44) the students who only spent
their childhood in Afghanistan underestimate the consequences of war. As Emal (44) explained,
the students that are willing to return do not know what war really is. If they return to
Afghanistan and a bomb will explode near them, they will know that the Afghanistan in their
minds is not a reality. When they are able to withstand the war situation, it remains questionable
whether their ability acquired in the Netherlands to overcome ethnic and political barriers will
not clash with the attitude of the Afghan citizens who did not flea the country and lived through
war over the past years. Regarding the students who are willing to return to support the
reconstruction, the category return of innovation of Cerases (1974) typology is worth
consideration. These returnees are unlikely to be actors of change in their home countries
because of the resilience of strong power relations and vested interests, which prevent innovators
from undertaking any initiatives that could jeopardise the established situation and the
traditional power structure (Cassarino, 2004:259). Further research needs to be conducted, to
find out whether reconstruction programmes, devised in the Netherlands, can improve the
situation in the country of origin or that existing structures limit the opportunities for returnees to
support the reconstruction process.
The collectivist social attitude that is common in Afghanistan, compared to the individualist
attitude that is so typical of Dutch society, might also strengthen the desire to do something in
return for people who stayed in Afghanistan. More respondents explained that they were told
during their childhood that nothing should be taken for granted and that later when they had
grown up, they must do something in return. On the other hand, no parent stimulated return
migration. Mariam, mother of three sons, explained how in conversations with her children, the
good memories of Afghanistan are clearly entwined with the terrible period they have had in
60
Afghanistan. Still her sons are attracted to Afghanistan and one even wants to do his internship in
Kabul.
There might be another reason why there is a discrepancy between the students wish to return
and contribute to the reconstruction and the parents lack thereof. While students are able to opt
for a future with international opportunities, parents often had to spend energy in rebuilding their
lives in a host country and creating opportunities for children. When they grow older and retire, a
shift might take place, because they do not have to support their family anymore. In other words,
when their children have received good education and have a good future outlook, their mission is
accomplished and return might become a more reasonable option. Only time can tell what
happens when this moment arrives. It has become clear that for students the motive of
reconstruction is relatively important.
6.1.3
Social Capital
Examination of the table shows that older respondents have more social capital in Afghanistan
than the younger respondents. Older respondents who have family members in Afghanistan have
a stronger wish to return. For students the presence of family is of less importance. Aziza and
Omar, the only elder respondents with family members in Afghanistan, both temporarily returned
to their family members and Omar even plans to return permanently in the future. Strong social
ties, in this case family members, are for some respondents a critical reason to return. On the
other hand, this case study shows that retained social contacts are not a necessary condition for
return. Aamir, who planned to return, did not have contacts in Afghanistan with family or friends.
The reasons why both Aziza and Omar have not yet returned are their children. Omar is a clear
example of how influential children are in the consideration of return. He is employed below his
actual level of competence and has family members in Afghanistan, which are two strong factors
stimulating return. His children and their educational opportunities are, in fact, his only reason to
stay in the Netherlands. Omar plans to return permanently when his children have grown up.
Besides her children, who keep Aziza in the Netherlands, the job of her husband and the bad
conditions for women in Afghanistan cause her to stay in the Netherlands. She plans to return
temporarily to her Afghan family next year. Becoming older might strengthen the wish to be
together with other family members.
61
6.1.4
Period of Flight
Analysing the influence of different periods of flight on return, it is important to know that before
moving to the Netherlands half of the respondents moved within Afghanistan or to neighbouring
countries. That is why the date of escape does not always coincide with the date of arrival in the
Netherlands.7 Table 4 and table 5 show that two of the three respondents who escaped during the
Interim regime, are not willing to return. The third one from the Interim period, Arman, is only
willing to return when Afghanistan is entirely safe. He expects that this will not happen in the
near future. These respondents escaped the country in a state of unsafety it still is in currently. For
them there is no reason to return, because the same regime is still in power. As a respondent
explained, for refugees with the same political and ethnic background as the people who are in
power now, it is relatively safe to return to Afghanistan. In practice, in the Interim regime, former
Mudjahedeen and Taliban warlords are actually still in power even though the name of the
government changed. Consequently, it is difficult to determine for which Afghan refugees
Afghanistan is now relatively safe for return. The four people that are willing to return and
planned returns in summer or recently went back to Afghanistan, escaped the country at least nine
years ago. Despite the fact that it is difficult to determine the relative safety for certain refugee
groups, we conclude that there is an obvious distinction between Afghans from different periods
of flight and their wish to return. This confirms that migrants are affected by meso conditions
such as a particular ethnic group or political involvement. It also strengthens the idea that
migrants are affected by macro conditions such as a particular regime in the country of origin.
The fact that periods of flight influence the decision to return might have, besides the explanation
of relative safety due to change of regime, another explanation. The question arises how realistic
the view of Afghans in the Netherlands is about their country of origin. Illustrated by Ghorashi,
memories change and are reconstructed constantly. Because of her Marxist ideas, Ghorashi
(2003:4-5), became a refugee in the period of political violence in Iran.
Once in exile in the Netherlands, I began to develop strong nostalgic feelings towards Iran. I
started to idealize Iran as my homeland. As the years passed, this imaginary Iran became stronger
in my mind, which led to feelings of displacement and emptiness in the present.
For the participants year of flight and year of arrival see table 2 on page 24-25
62
According to herself, her image of Iran was an imaginary and selective one. I realized that my
nostalgia did not have much to do with the lost past, but with feelings of loss in the present
(Ghorashi, 2003:5). These quotes illustrate how the image of a country of origin, especially for
refugees who are in exile relatively long, is ones own reconstruction. This process of selective
and imaginary reconstruction might explain why Afghans who arrived a relatively short while
ago are not yet willing to return while the Afghans who stayed for many years in the Netherlands
are.
6.1.5
Feeling at Home and Nostalgia
The column headed feeling at home of table 4 shows that eight respondents stated that they feel
at home, one respondent who does not feel at home, and four respondents who gave an answer
somewhere in between. These four +/- respondents, all described how they initially felt at home,
but due to the current political climate in the Netherlands, that they felt discriminated. While a
sense of feeling at home and discrimination might be stimulating the decision to return, there is
no clear evidence found in this research.
Prominent in table 5 is also that all older respondents talk about nostalgia. Not a single one has no
feelings of homesickness. Of course, this is less the case with the younger people. All four
respondents who are willing to return have feelings of nostalgia. Like the condition of feeling at
home, also nostalgia seems to be influential, however it seems no crucial condition in the decision
to return. To illustrate, Jawid, one of the respondents who does not want to return, has strong
feelings of nostalgia, nevertheless, the unsafe situation is a more influential condition for him.
6.2
THE MASLOW TRANSFORMATION
After the analysis of the motives and conditions of the Afghan respondent we are now able to
check whether the crucial conditions and motives in the return decision coincide with Malows
human needs hierarchy. The analysis of table 4 and 5 showed that the unsafe situation, the poor
economic infrastructure, the wish to reconstruct, the family ties, the presence of children and
period of flight are crucial in the decision to return. These conditions are positioned on the macro
and meso level, or in Maslows terms, these conditions are physiological, safety and belonging
needs. According to Maslow, without a primary basis like safety, people are unable to develop the
higher needs.
63
Table 11 Motives on Return arranged according to Maslow

Conditions
Motives
Level of Maslows
Pyramid
Macro
Political structure
Unsafe Situation*
Physiological needs
Structural
Economic
Poor economical Infrastructure
Safety needs
level
structure
Reconstruction
Social structure
Gender relations
Networks
Family Ties
Meso
Relational
Family Composition (children)
level
Period of flight (ethnical and political
Belonging needs
organisation)
Feeling at home / Discrimination
Nostalgia
Micro
Psychological
Esteem needs
Individual
factors
Difficulties with language
Self actualization
level
* Bold is most relevant for respondents in this research
Maslow puts more emphasis on the basic needs with his hierarchy. They need to be fulfilled
before other needs can be felt. In the following analysis we check whether in the decision
making of Afghan refugees such a hierarchy can be found. Although the research population is
small and adding it is an obvious simplification, we transform the answers of the respondents into
scores, and dub it The Maslow Transformation. A plus means 1 point, a plus/minus, a half point
and a minus or no answer, means no point. After the transformation of answers into a score for
intention to stay and a score for intention to return, a total score is achieved by subtracting the
return score from the stay score. The extreme high and low scores respectively should represent
the respondents who are coloured red and do not have the intention to return while those
respondents who are coloured blue do have the intention to return. To check whether Maslows
hierarchy has some evidence we compared the respondent unweighed scores with weighed
scores. With the weighed scores Maslows theory is taken into account. The conditions on the
primary level - physiological and safety needs weigh heavier in decision-making three times
than the conditions on the social level, which count twice. The conditions that touch upon the
highest level of Maslows pyramid - esteem needs and self-actualization - count only once. After
this mathematical recalculation the following table was created.
64
Table 12 The Maslow Transformation

Research data weighed by Maslows hierarchy of human needs
Respondent
a. Unweighed
stay score
b. Weighed
c. Unweighed
stay score
return score
d. Weighed
return score
e. Total
f. Total
Unweighed
Weighed
Score5
Score 6
Arman
4,5
13
2,5
4,5
8,5
Rafeeq
10
Ajmal
4,5
-1,5
-1
Jamila
12
1,5
3,5
3,5
8,5
Najia
11
1,5
2,5
Samira
14
Amir
Wahid
4,5
13
2,5
Zohra
Jawid
12
2,5
2,5
Aziza
-1
Mariam
Omar
1,5
-2,5
-4
Emal
3,5
2,5
Explanatory remarks:
1: count of plusses from table 4

2: multiplied according to place in Maslows hierarchy
3: count of plusses from table 5
4: multiplied according to place in Maslows hierarchy
5: column a minus column c
6: column b minus column d
The extreme high and low scores are coloured red and blue. In the column of the unweighed total
score, Jamila has the highest score, which means that her conditions and motives to stay are far
stronger than her intention to return. When we use the weighed score, Jamila is still one of the
high scores, but no longer indicated as an extreme. In contrast Omar has the lowest unweighed
score, which means that for him conditions and motives probably will lead to a return. In the
column of the weighed total score, again Omar is the respondent with the lowest score and since
his name is coloured blue, which means he planned an actual return, the score coincides with his
decision to return. Wahid and Rafeeq do have the highest total weighed score, which also
coincides with their intention to stay in the Netherlands.
65
Comparing the unweighed and weighed scores, which represent the extent to which a respondent
is willing to return or to stay; the colours of the scores are compared with the colours of the
names. In other words, to which extent do the unweighed and weighed scores coincide with the
actual intention of the respondents? The unweighed scores overlap with seven of the fourteen
respondents, while the weighed scores overlap for ten out of fourteen. Since more overlap is
found with the Maslow Transformation, this proves the importance of the hierarchy of human
needs in the decision to return. When making a decision to return or to stay, this analysis evinces
that conditions on the macro and meso level do have more influence than the micro conditions.
More specifically, the unsafe situation in Afghanistan has more influence on the decision to stay
or return than the presence of feelings of nostalgia. Our Maslow Transformation provides extra
insight in the process of ordering motives but cannot unravel the full complexity of this process,
since it does not correspond accurately enough with respondents actual intentions.
6.3
Taking into account the great influence of macro conditions on the return decision, the question
arises in which way we have to deal with strong motives on the micro level. This paragraph deals
with the strong wish Afghan refugees might bear towards return and how such a wish is related to
an actual return. In general, most respondents have an obvious wish to return, although they all
have different motivations to consider return. Despite the fact that they planned to return or have
a strong desire to return, it is questionable who returns eventually.
Afghanistan will always remain my country. I love Afghanistan. I keep longing for the country,
but at this moment I am not able to return.
(Mariam, 48, mother)
Although most refugees do have a strong wish or even conviction to return, it will not always
result in an actual return.
When I left Kabul I thought that I would return within a week. I hid some belongings somewhere
for if I would return, but I never did. Most refugees go away for one week. A week that often ends
with death in another country.
During the first meeting with Jamila, she immediately expressed her wish to return to
Afghanistan once. This wish to return, she explained a few weeks later, is something she would
66
like to realize, but she is too scared to go and she now has the feeling she will never return to
Afghanistan. This antinomy illustrates that the wish to return might be vivid for many DutchAfghans, but whether or not they really return remains nonetheless questionable. The feelings
illustrated by the quotes in which respondents mentioned the pain or cold they feel related to their
country of origin, might be seen as a form of mourning.
The useful concepts willingness and readiness, introduced by Cassarino (2004), help us
differentiate between a mere wish to and actual preparedness to return. There were four
respondents who were obviously prepared to temporarily return, entailing that one man let his
beard grow, others expounded to others on their date of flight, they all arranged accommodation,
travel insurance, vaccinations and some already organised transport in Afghanistan. Their
preparations for accommodation and safety demonstrate the readiness of the respondents. On the
other hand although the wish to return permanently exists for four respondents no one was
actually prepared for a permanent return. One respondent argues that he would love to return
permanently, but that his children keep him in the Netherlands. When his children are old enough,
he plans to return to Afghanistan. During the interview he explained that his ethnically mixed
marriage in a period marked by strong tensions between different ethnicities was the main reason
to leave Afghanistan. According to him the tension between ethnicities in Afghanistan has only
increased. In other words, the circumstances that caused him to leave Afghanistan only
deteriorated. Still, he is convinced of his eventual return. Another respondent who is willing to
return permanent, but never temporary returned, elaborates:
This summer I will go to Afghanistan for one month and I do have the wish to permanently return.
Nevertheless I have to consider the circumstances for a permanent return; difficult living conditions, the
bureaucracy and safety conditions.
In addition, Samira will also return for three weeks in the summer of 2008. She assumes that it is
the start of more travels to Afghanistan. For Samira it is, as the respondent mentioned above, to
see and feel the conditions of Afghanistan herself.
For me it is important to know if my words, as a woman, will reach men. Will I be able to have some
influence on the people in Afghanistan and contribute to the society? The answer to this question will be of
big influence on my future idea of returning to Afghanistan.
(Samira, 23, student)
67
She will look for a way to turn her wish into a concrete plan. These temporary summer returns
might be a step towards permanent return, but they can also just and in a cancellation of
something that was earlier desired.
Besides the concepts willingness and readiness, again Maslows model touches upon an essential
aspect trying to understand the strong wish some refugees have while the never will return. As
shown in the former paragraph, conditions on macro level deeply influence human behaviour. For
the Afghan migrants, unsafety, poor economic and educational conditions were strong motives
for their migration to the Netherlands. At the same time different respondents declared how, in
Afghanistan, they could fulfil their needs on the higher levels, for instance, a feeling of belonging
and status. These higher needs which the respondents could obtain in Afghanistan could, in some
cases, not be achieved in the Netherlands. The discrepancy in obtaining primary basic needs in
the Netherlands, while at the same time loosing higher needs, like belonging and self
actualization, might create a strong wish to return. Due to lack of safety this strong wish to return
will not always result in an actual return.
68
CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION
This research sought to gain insight into the conditions and motives influencing the decision or
non-decision of Afghan refugees to return or not to their homeland. These motives and
conditions range from those on a micro level to those on a macro level. There were conditions
and motives that encouraged a stay and others that stimulated the respondents intention to return.
These will be described in the first paragraph. Than, in the second paragraph, a narrow selection
of the crucial conditions and motives will be distinguished from the total, wider range of merely
influential conditions and motives. Thirdly, we will assess the relation between the various
insights of this study and the different migration theories, Maslows Pyramid and Cassarinos
useful concepts of willingness and readiness to this study on Afghan refugees. In the fourth and
last paragraph we will reflect on this research and make recommendations for further research.
7.1
INFLUENTIAL MOTIVES AND CONDITIONS
In this paragraph an answer to the research question, which conditions and motives are
influential in the decision of Afghan refugees, resident in the Netherlands, whether to stay in the
Netherlands or to return to Afghanistan?, is provided. Sourcing from fourteen in depth
interviews with Afghan refugees, resident in the Netherlands, an overview could be made of
influential motives and conditions considering return. There are various motives and conditions
on the macro, meso or micro level, which are subsequently described below.
To be expected from a commonsensical point of view was that the unsafe situation is an oftenmentioned condition, which encouraged Afghans to escape Afghanistan and stay in the
Netherlands. Interesting about this safety aspect are the different perceptions Afghans have
considering safety. While some argue that Afghanistan is unsafe since there are many weapons
and no freedom of speech, others argued that their alienation from Afghanistan
they became westernized make the country unsafe. These different perceptions touch upon the
Memorandum of Understanding, mentioned at the beginning of this research, in which
Afghanistan is declared a safe country for return. This research shows that the idea of safety
varies per situation and per individual and it is questionable to what extent a Memorandum
between the governments of countries might be a legitimate device to influence the life of the
individual refugee. Related to the unsafe situation is the economical conditions sided with the
relatively low standards of education which made Afghans, especially families with children,
decide to move to the Netherlands. In general, the children easily learned the language and
69
integrated well into the Dutch educational system. On the other hand, parents encountered more
difficulties with learning the language and finding a job. In considering a return to Afghanistan,
the safety and economical conditions job, education, and corruption play an important role.
Another aspect of the poor economical conditions are the increased house prices in Kabul, which
make it difficult or even impossible for returnees to buy a house and rebuild their lives in
Afghanistan. In contrast to the above-mentioned effect of these relatively poor macro conditions,
these conditions do also attract Afghans resident in the Netherlands to Afghanistan. Especially the
students are willing to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan and displayed a strong feeling of
responsibility towards Afghanistan. For instance, respondents indicated that when they decided
what to study, they let the option of once returning to and doing something in return for
Afghanistan play a decisive role. Some of them already returned to contribute to the
reconstruction over the past years while others have planned to return to Afghanistan after
finishing their studies.
Another factor that influenced the wish to return was the presence of family in Afghanistan.
Despite the fact that both the students as well as the older respondents had family in Afghanistan,
only the older respondents indicated this as a motivation for return. Since the Afghans are quite a
young and new group of refugees, it is too early to draw conclusion about this subject, as the
future must show whether elderly people will experience renewed attraction to their country of
origin after their children leave the house to stay with their other family members.
The struggle with language and employment below their capacities made two respondents long
for Afghanistan. Other respondents parents had difficulties in the beginning with language,
education and a job. They often referred to their lives in Afghanistan as a life in which they
enjoyed more status and recognition from others. Though nearly all respondents mentioned
nostalgic features of their lives in Afghanistan that went amiss in the Netherlands, for none of
them it was a significant reason to aspire return. After analysing literature on (re-) migration, the
influence of emotional motives, in this case, fear to return to Afghanistan, did not come forward.
Especially when studying return of refugees, the emotional and psychological effects are worth
consideration, since refugees often escape terrible and humiliating situations.
7.2
CRUCIAL MOTIVES AND CONDITIONS
Among the whole range, some motives and conditions proved crucial in affecting the decision to
stay or return. These crucial motives and conditions were found by analysing the answers of
respondents in tables, enabling the discovery of conspicuous patterns. The deep impact of the war
shown in the tables by many plusses proved to be a nearly ubiquitous reason for respondents
70
to stay in the Netherlands. Thirteen out of fourteen respondents mentioned the unsafe situation in
Afghanistan as a motive to stay in the Netherlands. Furthermore, family members in Afghanistan
constitute a strong pull-factor, while children in the Netherlands retain Afghan parents in the
Netherlands. For older respondents, family in the country of origin was often mentioned as the
main reason for a desired return. Parents those willing to return explained how their children
integrated in Dutch society prevent them from a return. Also, the period of flight strongly
affected the considerations of return. More elaborately this means that Afghans that have arrived
a relatively short while ago are not yet willing to return while the Afghans who stayed for many
years in the Netherlands are. However, the most conspicuous pattern found in the research, is the
strong desire of students to support the reconstruction in Afghanistan. In sum the crucial
conditions and motives are the following:
Unsafe situation in Afghanistan
Family in country of origin.
Children integrated into Dutch society.
Period of flight.
Support of reconstruction especially for students.
The most influential conditions and motives unsafe situation Afghanistan, family ties, the
presence of children, the wish to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and period of flight
occur on the macro and meso level. In the following paragraph a light is shed on how this study
of Afghan refugees fits within the theoretical framework.
7.3
THEORETICAL REFLECTION
Taking into account the similar and different motives and conditions of the Afghan respondents,
different theories and approaches of return migration accorded to a certain extent with this case.
Interesting for this case of refugees, is the structural approach, since this approach considers
macro influences like war, as a major condition affecting migration flows. This case confirmed
the importance such macro structures have in a decision to return. To a lesser extent economic
theories were assumed to be applicable to a refugee case, because there would be a predominance
of non-economical factors like social capital in country of origin. Nevertheless the economic
theories accorded with the case to a certain extent. For instance, the fact that children are such an
important factor can be related to economic conditions. The concern about returning children is
related to the unsafe situation in Afghanistan and their adaptation to the Netherlands, but also to
71
the low standards of education. Particularly education and thus good future opportunities are also
related to economic aspects. The trans-national approach and the cross border social network
theory put emphasis on the influence of social ties. This research strengthens the idea of the
important role social capital plays in return considerations. For older respondents with family
members in Afghanistan or the presence of children in the Netherlands are both crucial conditions
to respectively, favour return to Afghanistan or a stay in the Netherlands. While there is evidence
in the migration theories and approaches, none of these theories or approaches is sufficiently
comprehensive in this case. While Cerase referred in his typology to returnees of innovation,
which can be related to the process of brain gain, this could not predict the strong desire of
students to return for this purpose.
7.3.1
The Maslow pyramid was introduced in this research in order to get more insight in the way
micro, meso and macro factors influence a decision to return. The theories on (re-) migration
show that migration is a complex phenomenon that is influenced by micro, meso and macro
conditions. Thus, the Maslow hierarchy of human needs is a valuable model to analyse an
individual migration decision by taking into account the various levels of influence.
Despite the small amount of respondents in order to obtain a correct statistical analysis, a
mathematical analysis dubbed The Maslow Transformation has been executed to acquire
more insight in the respective levels of influence conditions and motives on the micro, meso, and
macro level have. The answers from the respondents were transformed into scores inspired by
Maslows pyramid. The value of these scores represented those motives and conditions
promoting either stay (positive value) or return (negative value).
In Maslows pyramid of human needs more emphasis is put on conditions on the macro level than
those on the micro level. In other words, without the existence of the basic human needs, one is
not able to obtain higher, more individual needs. Thus, in The Maslow Transformation motives
and conditions from the macro level weigh heavier than those on the meso level, which in return
weigh heavier than those on the micro level. Comparing the unweighed scores with the weighed
scores results in some evidence for the influence of Maslows hierarchy of human needs. In other
words, for the Afghan respondents conditions on the macro and meso level strongly influenced
the return decision, while the conditions and motives on the micro level were not.
Approaching the decision to migrate with Maslows hierarchy is not only valuable since it takes
into account the different influential levels, it also creates a method to interpret motives and
72
conditions by giving different weights to micro, meso and macro factors. The addition of this
model to the existing theories on migration is a new step in structuring and understanding the
complex range of influential migration factors.
7.3.2
Due to the difficult differentiation between willingness and readiness of respondents it is

complicated to judge upon the actual return of the respondents. To illustrate this point: ten out of
fourteen respondents were willing to return temporarily, and among them were only four who had
lately returned or were actually preparing a future return. The respondents that were prepared for
a temporary return may have made the first step towards permanent return. While four of them
were prepared to return temporarily, others kept only a wish of returning once. Nevertheless, the
myth of return must be taken into account. This myth of return touches the strong wish migrants
might have to return, while some of them will never return actually. For others the wish to return
seemed part of a mourning process; grief over lost family members and mourning for the country
of their memory, their nostalgia. Their wish to return seemed to be the embodiment of what they
long for, the country of their memories instead of a place one can actually return to.
Again the model of Maslow is valuable considering the strong wish in contrast with the lack of
actual return. While most Afghan refugees found safety and economic and educational
opportunities in the Netherlands, some of them lost other aspects of the human needs pyramid of
Maslow, for instance, status and family. Longing for these higher human needs, might create a
strong wish to return, while the basic needs like safety cannot be obtained in Afghanistan, which
eventually will prevent them from a return.
7.4
FUTURE RESEARCH
This research contributed to the current insight in motives and conditions influencing return
migration of Afghan refugees. Besides this specific insight, the results and analysis of the
research contribute to a broader insight on return migration. With support from the Maslow
human needs hierarchy, patterns could be distinguished from the enormous range of influencing
factors. For Afghan refugees probably for refugees in general conditions on macro level, for
instance safety, play a major role in return considerations. The analysis of this researchs data has
shown that macro and meso factors have more impact than the micro conditions. In future
research, the relative importance of micro, meso and macro conditions can be studied in more
detail. Since this qualitative research came up with a wide range of influencing motives and
73
conditions, future research on this topic might focus on more structured interviews to acquire data
set for quantitative analysis in order to test the Maslow Transformation. In addition, it would also
be of interest to do the same research with another group of refugees and even other migrants. It
is worth consideration to find out whether Maslows hierarchy is evidenced in other researches as
well and how this model might be applicable to migrants who do not encounter such unsafe
conditions in their country of origin. If the safety situation is of less influence, will the factors on
meso level still be more influential than factors on the micro level?
On a more practical level, a research after the influence of temporary return of Afghans would be
valuable. Since migration programs want to support the reconstruction by organising temporary
return visits, it is worth to verify to which extent returnees can constructively influence the
Afghan infrastructure.
74
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80
APPENDICES
Appendix I; Major Source Countries of Refugees
Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/imagerepository/UNHCR_worldfigure.pdf
81
Appendix II; Afghans in the Netherlands
Herkomstgroepering:
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Bevolking; herkomstgroepering en geslacht

Geslacht
Mannen en vrouwen Mannen
Perioden:
Aantal:
Aantal:
1996
4916
1997
7724
1998
11551
1999
15811
2000
21468
2001
26394
2002
31167
2003
34249
2004
36043
2005
37021
2006
37246
2007
37230
2008
37370
Vrouwen
Aantal:
2757
4347
6478
8927
12163
15042
17810
19473
20268
20560
20349
20156
20113
2159
3377
5073
6884
9305
11352
13357
14776
15775
16461
16897
17074
17257
Source: CBS StatLine
82
Appendix III; Topiclist individual interview

Introduction research
1. Stay in the Netherlands
Do you have a job or follow education?
Why did you choose for this job/study?
Are you enrolled in an organisation (Afghan, student, sport)?
Are you busy with other activities beside your job/study?
Do you have contact with other Afghans resident in the Netherlands?
Do you have children? Are you married?
Where do your family members (siblings, parents) live?
Are you still in contact with people living in Afghanistan?
Are you following the Afghan news? From which sources you gather information?
Which languages do you speak?
Do you feel at home in the Netherlands?
2. Flight to the Netherlands
How long are you in the Netherlands?
When did you left Afghanistan?
Did you think about moving to a neighbouring country when you left Afghanistan?
When you left Afghanistan, you had to idea of once returning?
3. Return to Afghanistan
How do you see the future of Afghanistan?
How do you see your own future?
Work/Study
Safety
Network of family and friends
Family Composition
83
Do you miss/long for something in Afghanistan?
Network of Family and friends
Reconstruction of Afghanistan
Identity (ethnicity, language, religion)
Nostalgia
Do you have the wish to temporarily or permanently return to Afghanistan?

Under which conditions return will be an option for you?
For those who are willing to return; which preparations are needed before return is an option?
What do you think about forced returnees?
From neighbouring countries (Iran, Pakistan) many Afghan refugees have returned, what is your
opinion?
Is there something you want to add to the interview or want to ask me?
Thank you for participating in this research.
84

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Afghan refugees in The Netherlands

Permanently settled or waiting for return?

History and Refugee Flows

Marxist Period and Soviet Invasion (1979 -1992)

Mudjahedeen and the Civil War (1992 - 1996)

Taliban (1996 - 2001)

Interim Regime (2001 - present)

Dutch Migration Policy

Pioneer in Migration Theory

Historical Structural Approach

The Interdisciplinary Approach of Migration

Willingness and Readiness

AFGHANS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Afghans in the Netherlands

Ethnic Identity and Contact with Other Afghans

Conditions and Motives to Stay or Return

Macro Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

Micro Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

Meso Conditions and Motives Influencing the Decision on

PERMANENTLY SETTLED OR WAITING FOR RETURN?

Structuring of Motives and Conditions

Students and Reconstruction

Feeling at Home and Nostalgia

The Maslow Transformation

Between Willingness and Readiness

Influential Motives and Conditions

Crucial Motives and Conditions

The Maslow Transformation

Between Willingness and Readiness

Major Source Countries of Refugees

Afghans resident in the Netherlands

CHAPTER 2 Background Information

Source: Marsden (1998), pg. ix.

Marxist Period and the Soviet Invasion (1979-1992)

Mudjahedeen and the Civil War (1992-1996)

Interim Regime (2001- present)

Figure 2 Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan (ha), 1994-2007

UNODC, Afghanistan Opium Winter Rapid Assessment Report, February 2007)

Relatively Safe for:

Mudjahedeen (Civil War)

DUTCH MIGRATION POLICY

CHAPTER 3 Theoretical Framework

Before proceeding to Ravenstein, Lee (1966:49) broadly defines migration as follows;

Pioneer in Migration Theory

Historical structural approach

From the individual to the macro perspective on migration.

The Interdisciplinary Approach of Migration

Taking into account micro-, meso- and macro-structures.

Figure 3 Maslows Pyramid

Willingness and Readiness

Table 2 Conditions and Motives influencing Return Migration

Poor economical Infrastructure

Family Composition (children)

Period of flight (ethnical and

Poor job opportunities

Difficulties with language

Interim Regime 2001-present

Apendix: Topics of Interview with Afghan Refugees.

Table 4 Characteristics of Respondents

Table 5 Period of Escape

AFGHANS IN THE NETHERLANDS

AFGHANS IN THE NETHERLANDS

Ethnic Identity and Contact with Other Afghans

CONDITIONS AND MOTIVES TO STAY OR RETURN