ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban on Wednesday registered 1,800 unemployed Afghans expelled from neighboring countries for the chance to work in Qatar in the latest round of a labor agreement with the Gulf nation, a Labor Ministry spokesman said.
The program is aimed at easing unemployment in Afghanistan, and the Taliban has said talks are also underway to send labor to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Turkey, and Russia.
Last month, 3,100 Afghans were registered for jobs in Qatar, including in the food and hospitality industries. Wednesday's one-day registration period was open only to Afghans expelled from Iran and Pakistan, and took place in four major cities.
At least two million Afghans have left Iran and Pakistan this year after both governments launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living there illegally. They deny targeting Afghans, but most of those forcibly returned are Afghan.
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People with refugee certificates were able to visit registration centers in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, and Nangarhar for the chance to work in Qatar, Labor Ministry spokesman Samiullah Ibrahimi said.
"These work visas cover 22 different job categories, and the 1,800 visas available are for these jobless Afghan returnees," he said.
Dozens of men waited in long lines outside a registration center in Kabul.
Poyan Ahmadi, who left Iran, said he wanted the Taliban government to talk to other countries. "Here in Afghanistan, there is no work, and there is a shortage of job opportunities."