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KABUL: Afghanistan is set to send 700 workers to Qatar under a new agreement marking the first formal deployment abroad since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The Afghan Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said on Monday that the agreement was reached between a joint public-sector company from Qatar and private employment firms in Afghanistan and the placement process will be supervised by the Afghan government.

“Based on this agreement, an initial 700 job opportunities have been allocated for Afghan workers,” it said. “The core objective is the legal, safe, and dignified deployment of Afghan workers abroad, with the necessary future support to uphold their rights.”

Samiullah Ebrahimi, the ministry’s spokesman, told Arab News on Wednesday that the “registration process will start very soon” and that the government “will identify in which sectors Qatar needs laborers.”

As Afghanistan faces very high unemployment, with many daily wage earners struggling to find work or earn a living inside the country, sending labor abroad could provide immediate economic relief.

“This agreement will bring continued and sustainable income to Afghan families. A major factor is that our economy is currently based on remittance. With more labor going abroad, the volume of remittance gets increased, helping the economy stabilize,” Abdul Hameed Jalili, former refugee affairs attache to Pakistan, told Arab News.

The new agreement will not only provide jobs but also help elevate Afghanistan’s standing in the international labor market, potentially opening doors for more Afghan workers abroad.

“Afghanistan is home to a skilled and talented workforce and enabling these individuals to work overseas can showcase the strength and professionalism of our labor force. This, in turn, could enhance the country’s reputation and encourage other nations to consider recruiting Afghan workers,” Jalili said.

Remittances have played a vital role in supporting both Afghan households and the national economy and used to contribute 4 percent to GDP, according to data from the Assessment Capacities Project, a non-governmental organization hosted by the Norwegian Refugee Council, which provides humanitarian analysis.

They dropped in 2021, when Afghanistan was hit with sanctions after US-led forces left the country and its Western-backed administration collapsed as the Taliban took control.

While since 2022 they have been on the rise, they are still below the pre-2021 level, according to ACAPS, also due to the reliance on unofficial hawala transfers, which are difficult to track.

Many households are reliant on these transfers as job opportunities in Afghanistan have shrunk.
 
It is unclear how high the unemployment rate currently is, but various reports suggest it has skyrocketed over the past four years with the withdrawal of foreign projects and aid. The UN Development Program warned in May that 75 percent of the Afghan population was subsistence-insecure, lacking access to adequate housing, health care, and essential goods.

With no job prospects at home and no labor deals between the Taliban administration and foreign governments, many Afghans have illegally traveled abroad in search of employment, often taking dangerous routes.

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 1.6 million Afghans left the country between 2021 and 2023.

Agreements like the one signed with Qatar could pave the way for essential protections of those working abroad.

“Expanding official labor agreements with additional countries could help slow the migration trend that followed the collapse of the former government by offering safe and legal pathways for work abroad,” Jalili said.

“This would also reduce the risks associated with human trafficking and irregular migration, allowing Afghans to pursue opportunities overseas through regulated and secure channels.”