The Social Problem of Migration from Afghanistan:Aspirations and Drivers

The reasons for emigration and its explanation in the framework of economic approaches, pull and push factors. The duality of poverty and migration has always been the focus of migration studies. Migration among Afghans has a long history. However, during the last few decades, these continuous outflows of migration and return have become unprecedented in scale and nature. This article seeks to explain the social problem of migration from Afghanistan with an emphasis on aspirations and drivers. The drivers and factors studied are in three levels of the micro (individual characteristics), medium (transnational networks), and macro (perceptions of the socio-economic and political conditions of the countries of origin and destination). A sample of 850 men and women were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling in four provinces of Afghanistan. Based on the results, the perception of individuals about the socio-economic and political situation in Afghanistan at the macro level and transnational networks at the medium-level have a significant effect on the tendency to migrate. At the micro-level and among the demographic characteristics, age, education, and ethnicity affect migration tendency among Afghans. In conclusion, negative attitudes toward Afghanistan's current and future situations, the culture of migration, and Afghan diaspora and transnational networks, mainly in neighboring countries such as Iran, play critical roles in shaping migration aspirations among inter-subjectivity of Afghan people.