A third of the population live in Moscow and the largest community is found around the Sevastopol Hotel, which is home to thousands of Afghan residents and many Afghan-run businesses.
[1] In 2007 UNHCR reported many, including children of officials who worked for the pro-Soviet government in Kabul during the 1980s, have failed to gain refugee status.
[2] Refugee status approval rate had been between 2% and 5% and about 30% for temporary asylum applications.
[2] Many Afghans had entered Russia through Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and were blocked from making refugee application under the “safe third country” rule.
In 2021, the Russian government requested that 1,000 Afghans be allowed to fly from Afghanistan to Russia following the 2021 Taliban offensive.