The agenda in Afghanistan is now economic development and preventing migration

The agenda of economic development and preventing migration in Afghanistan may sound quite strange compared with the news we have been used to until now, but that is exactly how things are. Until two and a half years ago, the only language in force in this country was the language of occupation, violence, war and instability, and such an agenda would never have come up.

Irregular migrants or refugees who go from one country to another carry, or create perceptions of, the problems, inadequacies and unbearable living conditions of their own countries. The greatest test of the Taliban administration, which says that the victory won after the Jihad they waged against the US for 20 years is "directly and explicitly the victory of Islam," and that "therefore the great responsibility that falls to them is to think of the dignity, health and honor of this jihad, to act in accordance with it and to raise its name even higher," is in fact the human resource that migrates from Afghanistan to other countries. The conditions of the country push people to migrate, because there are no jobs, livelihood conditions are inadequate, and the political situation of the country does not make people hopeful about their own country.

The great hardships that Afghan irregular migrants, whom we have witnessed in Turkey as well, have to endure on these migration journeys and in the places they go to give an idea of the conditions they have torn themselves away from.

Undoubtedly, asylum and irregular migration from Afghanistan did not begin in the last two or three years, that is, in the Taliban period. On the contrary, the occupations and civil wars that continued for 45 years have largely prevented the formation of a stable and promising economy in the country. When the conditions of civil war are also taken into account, it is understandable that Afghanistan is a country that constantly produces migrants. On the contrary, the 2nd Taliban administration has now, for the first time in 45 years, established a stable administration spread across the whole country and made it possible for the first time to think about the problem of economic development.

In fact, narcotics, which could previously be counted as the economy's greatest input, were, while being a huge problem in themselves for the country, far from being a sector whose revenues reached the citizens. As we have said before, while the occupation was financed to some extent with the revenues obtained from it, the human resource needed for the occupation was also supplied from this pitch-black sector through the creation of addiction. That the Taliban dried up this sector at its root within a short time is itself a great value and achievement to be credited to their account.

The image of people clinging to the wheels and wings of US cargo planes to flee Afghanistan on the day the Taliban expelled the occupiers inevitably produced mixed perceptions about those fleeing the country. The idea that the Taliban could make the country unlivable was generally the one among these perceptions that was highlighted in the Western media. There was also the expectation that a Taliban administration that would pursue revenge and the old regime would speed up even further the migration from a country that was already constantly giving migrants. Yet instead of the retaliation or old-regime policies expected of it, the Taliban administration, as soon as it took over the government, declared a general amnesty and said that no one would be prosecuted on account of a relationship with the former regime unless there was a crime that violated individual rights. Up to now it has acted in line with this word. This in fact also stopped the faster migration that had been expected from Afghanistan.

Moreover, in recent months the reverse migration of many Afghans who had previously migrated to Pakistan is also on the agenda.

One of the Taliban administration's greatest tests in Afghanistan, in the name of an Islamic administration, is perhaps being able to create the conditions that will keep its citizens in their country. The social peace and calm necessary for this have been largely provided thanks to the Taliban's administration, which promises stability. The step after that is the creation of conditions of economic development that will make the country more livable and not push its citizens elsewhere.

The ministers we met say that they are making serious efforts toward this. The 20-year US administration made no investment in infrastructure, industrial facilities or anything that would create economic resources for people. The new administration has rolled up its sleeves to make these investments, and in fact they are expecting investment initiatives especially from Islamic countries.

Afghanistan offers very good opportunities for investors. In energy, infrastructure construction, mines, agriculture and in terms of human capital.

It really does have a very dynamic young population. This youth constitutes a human capital that is extremely hardworking, skillful, quick to learn and shrinks from no difficulty. In addition, it has very extensive, high-quality, arable land and a rich vegetation. By launching a promotional campaign that presents the country as a land of opportunities for investors, it is possible to make it a center of attraction for international textile or labor-intensive industrial production. Industrial investors of this kind can come to Afghanistan for such work just as they go to China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, even Egypt. This would both form a step for Afghanistan's economic development and could be a very effective way as a program for preventing migration at its source.

On the other hand, Afghanistan's vast arable lands could likewise be opened to foreign investors in a way that provides youth employment. Food is one of the most important problems of the world today. Many countries resort to many ways to produce their own food sources in other countries. Why should Afghanistan not be one of these places from now on?

With these considerations, the Afghan people, who after 20 years expelled the occupiers from their country and established their independent administration, are waiting for investors from Muslim countries. What they particularly emphasize is that they are not asking for help in the sense of donations on this matter; on the contrary, they are waiting for Muslim businessmen to take interest in their country, which promises profit for investors.