Amnesty International calls on world leaders to halt forced returns of refugees to Afghanistan News
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Amnesty International calls on world leaders to halt forced returns of refugees to Afghanistan

Amnesty International called on world leaders Tuesday to immediately end the forced returns of refugees and asylum seekers to Afghanistan, citing serious human rights concerns. The statement urged world leaders to abide by their obligations under international human rights law.

The organization noted that millions of Afghan refugees have been unlawfully deported in 2025 from several countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Germany. This wave of forced deportations has taken place amid an intensifying crackdown on civil society in Afghanistan. The statement especially noted violations of the rights of women and girls. These violations include restrictions on freedom of movement, a prohibition on working with the UN or non-governmental organizations, and the exclusion of girls beyond the age of 12 from education.

Amnesty International’s regional director for South Asia, Smriti Singh, said : “This rush to forcibly return people to Afghanistan ignores why they fled in the first place and the serious dangers they face if sent back. It shows a clear disregard for states’ international obligations and violates the binding principle of non-refoulement.”

The principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they may face torture, degrading treatment, or other irreparable harm.

Amnesty International highlighted two main threats that Afghan refugees face in their country: discriminatory restrictions against women and girls, and persecution of former government employees. Based on interviews with expelled refugees, former government officials and members of the security forces could not return to their old residences or home provinces due to fear of retaliation from local Taliban authorities. Although a general amnesty for former government officials was announced after the Taliban took over in 2021, Taliban authorities have continued to target all those who worked under the former government with arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial killings.

Women’s rights activists have also faced persecution from the Taliban. A former rights activist who was forcibly returned to Afghanistan reported to Amnesty that authorities arrested members of her family to make them reveal her whereabouts, which forced her to flee the country again.

In July, a UN report also found that the Taliban authorities committed human rights violations against refugees who returned to their home country, with the most affected groups being women and girls, civil society workers, and former government officials. In addition, Human Rights Watch warned in August that the forced returns of Afghans has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian crisis in the country. The human rights situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated since the Taliban took control in 2021, marked by a repressive environment for journalists and women. In October, the UN decided to establish an independent investigative mechanism in Afghanistan in order to investigate international crimes and violations of international law that have been committed in the country.

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