Rights group calls on world leaders to halt forced returns of refugees to Afghanistan – JURIST

Amnesty International called on world leaders on Tuesday to immediately end the forced returns of refugees and asylum seekers to Afghanistan due to serious human rights concerns, urging them 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 occurred amid an intensifying crackdown on human rights, including freedom of speech, and violations of women’s and girls’ rights. These violations include restrictions on freedom of movement, prohibition from 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 that Afghan refugees faced two main threats in their country: Persecution of former government employees and discriminatory restrictions against women and girls. Based on interviews with expelled refugees, the former members of security forces and government officials could not return to their provinces or old residences due to fears of retaliation from the Taliban. Although a general amnesty for former government officials was announced, the Taliban continued to target all those who worked under the former government with arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

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

Previously, a UN report has  revealed 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, a rights group warned in August that the forced returns of Afghans 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.