Afghanistan Peace CampaignKABUL, AFGHANISTAN – United Nations human rights experts expressed concern on Thursday over reports that European Union member states are deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan, saying the country remains unsafe for forced returns and that such actions could violate international law.
In a joint statement, the experts, including Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, stressed the principle of non-refoulement, which bars returns to places where people face serious risks. They reminded EU states of their obligations under international human rights and refugee law.
The experts described Afghanistan’s human rights situation as “dire,” saying violations against women and girls are so widespread and systematic that they could amount to crimes against humanity.
They also cited reports of torture and extrajudicial killings targeting ethnic and religious minorities, human rights defenders, journalists, sexual and gender minorities, and former Afghan officials and security personnel.
The group reminded EU member states of their non-refoulement obligations under the Convention against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Refugee Convention, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
“International law’s non-refoulement obligation prohibits the removal of any person to a State where they are at risk of arbitrary deprivation of life, torture and other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, flagrant denial of justice and other serious violations of human rights,” the experts said.
The experts also warned against efforts to normalize relations with the Taliban, citing a visit by a Taliban delegation to Brussels in June at the invitation of the European Commission. The commission described the meeting as “technical,” while the Taliban delegation called it “historic.”
“We remain concerned that such engagement, without clear redlines on the need for improvements in respect for human rights, leads to the normalization of gross human rights violations by the Taliban, including gender persecution,” the experts said.
They noted that some EU member states continue “technical discussions” to facilitate deportations and have accepted Taliban consular officials on their territories.
The experts urged EU states to increase advocacy for human rights improvements in Afghanistan. “There must be no normalization or legitimation of the Taliban unless there are concrete improvements on human rights, including the lifting of the ban on the education of girls and women over sixth grade,” they said.
European countries have increased contacts with the Taliban regarding the deportation of Afghan migrants. France has confirmed it is in contact with the group on the matter. Germany previously reached an agreement with the Taliban on deportations and has returned hundreds of Afghan nationals whose asylum claims were rejected or who committed crimes.
The United Nations, some EU lawmakers and human rights groups have criticized the rise in returns to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and growing official contacts with the group, arguing the country remains unsafe for forced returns and that engagement risks legitimizing a regime responsible for widespread rights abuses