UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on returns of Afghans

“Many have been either directly forced to return by States where they have been residing, and others have felt compelled to do so because of threats, harassment and intimidation,” she told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

“The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls for an immediate halt to the forcible return of all Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers, particularly those at risk of persecution, arbitrary detention, or torture upon their return. Countries in the region must ensure that returns to Afghanistan are voluntary, safe, dignified, and consistent with international law,” Shamdasani stressed.

In just over seven months, over 1.9 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan to Afghanistan. From Iran alone, over 1.5 million have arrived since the start of the year. Of these, 938,000 or 60 per cent were deported – including 500,000 since 13 June.

More than 300,000 Afghans have been returned from Pakistan since 1 January this year, on top of the many hundreds of thousands more who have returned since the Taliban takeover and the Government’s adoption in 2023 of an “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan”. In Tajikistan too, a group of Afghan nationals, including refugees and asylum-seekers, were reportedly summoned in Vahdat on 8 July by security officials and informed that all Afghan nationals must leave the country within 15 days.

Many Afghans have also been forced to leave or issued ultimatums from several other countries. A number of countries are also considering reversing their asylum policies granting protection for Afghan refugees.

“Sending people back to a country in which they are at risk of persecution, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or other irreparable harm, violates the core international law principle of non-refoulement. People also have a right to make such a claim and have it fairly considered by State authorities before any action to forcibly expel an individual. Deportations in violation of these basic rules must stop immediately,” Shamdasani said.

“At the same time, given the particularly severe situation on the ground – especially for women and girls - we call on all States to increase the availability of legal pathways for Afghans to find a safe place to live,” the spokesperson highlighted.

There is an acute humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan. The first priority must be to ensure people’s immediate needs, including food, water, shelter and healthcare, are met. They also face structural and systemic discrimination, gender persecution, issues related to ethnicity, obstacles to full reintegration into society, and a dearth of work and livelihoods as a result of a struggling economy.

Women and girls, who are systematically deprived of their rights in Afghanistan, are particularly at risk upon their return. The UN Human Rights Office has spoken out strongly against the extreme institutional discrimination and undue restrictions imposed on women and girls, the cumulative effect of which has been to almost erase women and girls from public life and prevent them from accessing basic services.

Others among those deported are journalists, and former civil servants or employees of the previous Afghan government who are particularly vulnerable to reprisals and torture by the de facto authorities upon their return.

“We implore States to do everything in their power to help those who have already endured decades of warfare, poverty and hardship, as well as extreme discrimination and threats. We must not turn our backs on them now,” Shamdasani concluded.

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or

Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or

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