Afghan president on defensive over migrant "dishwasher" remark

KABUL (Reuters) - President Ashraf Ghani sought on Monday to stave off widespread mockery of remarks that were taken to imply that educated Afghan emigrants could only hope for work as dishwashers if they looked for employment abroad. The comment, made in an interview with Deutsche Welle television during a trip to Europe last week, brought down a torrent of abuse and ridicule from Afghanistan's extremely active social media users. In remarks apparently aimed at encouraging well-qualified Afghans not to move abroad, Ghani, whose own children are reported to live in the United States, noted that many struggled to find employment on a level matching their qualifications. "If they live abroad they become dishwashers. They don't become part of the middle class," he said. A wave of comments on social media sites attacked Ghani and sarcastically noted his own successful international career. He earned a doctorate from New York's Columbia University and taught at universities in the United States before working for 11 years at the World Bank. "Ashraf Ghani has served his 35 years as a dishwasher in America. How do you expect Mr. President to face the reality when he can’t face the questions?" wrote one commenter on Facebook. Many also pointed to the case of newly appointed Canadian Minister of Democratic Institutions, the Afghan-born Maryam Monsef, who came to Canada as a refugee, contrasting it bitterly with the difficulties many Afghans have at home. "Mr. Ghani, she is not a dishwasher," wrote one Facebook poster. The angry reaction underlined the sensitivity of the emigration issue in Afghanistan, source of one of the world's biggest refugee populations, as well as anger that much of the country's political elite has sent their own families abroad. This year alone, more than 160,000 Afghans have arrived in Europe by sea, with most coming in the past few months as concerns over the worsening security situation and dire economic prospects have fuelled an exodus of young people. Declaring that his comment had not been intended as an insult, Ghani said Afghanistan has lost two generations of professionals abroad after decades of war. "How many of our people with a doctoral decree, including members of my own family, have become taxi drivers because they need to earn a piece of bread?" he said at a news conference. (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and James Mackenzie; Editing by Tom Heneghan)