These abuses embrace threats, instances of torture, mistreatment and arbitrary arrest and detention, in keeping with the UN Help Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Workplace of the UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The report mentioned these violations had been dedicated towards Afghans “based mostly on their profile” and focused girls, media staff and civil society members in addition to people affiliated with the previous authorities that fell in 2021 and its safety forces, regardless of the Taliban’s claims that such people profit from an amnesty.
“Nobody ought to be returned to a rustic the place they’re susceptible to being persecuted due to their id or private historical past,” mentioned Volker Türk, the UN Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights.
“In Afghanistan, this example is much more pronounced for ladies and ladies, who’re subjected to a sequence of measures that quantity to persecution solely on the premise of their gender.”
Since 2023 and the beginning of large-scale deportation campaigns launched by Iran and Pakistan, tens of millions of Afghans have returned to their nation. In 2025 alone, greater than 1.8 million individuals have returned to Afghanistan, 1.5 million of them from Iran.
Girls beneath home arrest
The UN refugee company, UNHCR, not too long ago estimated that the entire may attain three million by the tip of the 12 months, returning to a rustic dealing with a extreme humanitarian disaster.
The scenario of girls forcibly returned is especially dire. A former tv journalist, who left the nation after the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, described how, after being involuntarily returned to Afghanistan, she noticed her prospects vanish.
“I’m very frightened for my private security and really feel immense frustration with the present scenario imposed on girls in [my province]. I can unequivocally say that I’m successfully beneath home arrest. There are not any job alternatives, no freedom of motion and no entry to training – whether or not to study or to show – for ladies and ladies,” she testified.
Many individuals are additionally compelled to reside in hiding since returning to Afghanistan as a consequence of actual or feared threats from the de facto authorities. That is the case for people affiliated with the previous authorities and its safety forces, who’ve had to enter hiding for worry of reprisals, regardless of the general public amnesty introduced by the de facto authorities.
Dwelling in hiding
A former official described how, after returning in 2023, he was detained for 2 nights in a home the place he was severely tortured, overwhelmed with sticks, cables and wooden, subjected to water torture and confronted a mock execution.
Different refugees returned from Iran should incessantly change places to keep away from being recognized, comparable to one former choose.
“I attempt to keep hidden as a result of I do know that the prisoners who had been detained due to my choices are actually senior authorities officers and are nonetheless on the lookout for me. In the event that they discover me, I’m certain they’ll kill me. They already threatened me once I was a choose,” they mentioned.
Confronted with these severe abuses, the UN is urging States to not return anybody to Afghanistan who faces an actual danger of significant human rights violations.
“Member States ought to increase resettlement alternatives for at-risk Afghans and guarantee their safety, giving precedence to these most definitely to endure human rights violations if returned to Afghanistan, together with girls and ladies, people affiliated with the previous authorities and safety forces, media professionals, civil society activists and human rights defenders,” the report mentioned.
