Gallup: Nearly 50% of Women Want to Leave Afghanistan

A new poll shows that nearly 50% of the women in Afghanistan want to leave, migrate to another country. In addition, 41% of the entire Afghan population wants to leave. In the survey, Gallup asked, “Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move PERMANENTLY to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country?” Forty-seven percent of the women said they would like to permanently move to another country; 35% of the men said the same.
Since 2016, the rise in the percentage of all Afghans who would like to migrate has been accounted for entirely by results among women, nearly half (47%) of whom in 2018 said they would like to leave, reported Gallup.
Gallup surveys in 2018 showed Afghan women were the least satisfied women in the world with the freedom to choose what they do with their lives. With 80% of women out of the workforce and 91% with a primary education or less, these choices remain rather limited.
“Amid rising fears that they could lose what freedoms they do have as the Taliban continues to take more control over their country,” the percentage of Afghan women who say they would like to move has nearly tripled since 2016, and for the first time, significantly more women (47%) than men (35%) want to leave, reported Gallup.
When the polling firm asked Afghans overall if they would like to permanently move to another country, 41% said yes. This is a record high, according to Gallup.
“Afghans who say they would like to move to another country are most likely to name Germany (19%) and Turkey (19%), the two countries where Afghan refugees make up the second-largest refugee populations after Syrians, as their preferred destination,” said Gallup.