MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has predicted an exacerbation of the Afghan refugee situation amid social and economic problems in Afghanistan.
"There is a risk of serious exacerbation of the migrant situation. A massive outflow of Afghans, primarily those who cooperated with the West and members of ethnic and confessional minorities, to other countries began in August 2021. According to the UN official statistics alone, the number of refugees has topped three million. There is no doubt that these numbers will grow if the socioeconomic situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate," Patrushev said at the fifth multilateral meeting of Security Council secretaries on Afghanistan.
The social and economic situation in Afghanistan "has been rapidly degrading," he said.
"One of the reasons is that Washington, London and their allies continue to illegally freeze Afghan assets instead of directing them for humanitarian needs. What is more, the West is trying to embezzle these assets, including by reserving some of them for paying compensations under lawsuits filed by families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks to which, as we know, the Afghan people bears no relation," Patrushev said.
He also pointed to the significantly increased amounts of drug trafficking, indicating that the production of narcotics increased in Afghanistan by over 40 times in 2001-2021.