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STORY: OHCHR / AFGHANISTAN FORCED RETURNEES
TRT: 02:06
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 24 JULY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Various shots, Palais Wilson
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“A UN report published today documents serious human rights violations committed against people involuntarily returned to Afghanistan. This includes instances of torture and ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary arrest and detention by the de facto authorities.Sending people back to a country where they are at risk of persecution, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, is in violation of the principle of non-refoulement and a serious breach of international law. Those particularly at risk in Afghanistan are women and girls, people connected to the former government and its security forces, media workers and civil society. Among the cases singled out in the report is that of a former TV reporter who fled after the Taliban takeover, and who has subsequently returned involuntarily. She describes feeling effectively under house detention. For women and girls, she says, there are no jobs, no freedom of movement, and no education beyond grade six. Another person in the report, a former government official, describes how, after his return in 2023, he was detained for two nights in a house where he was severely tortured, suffering beatings and waterboarding. He said he was subjected to a mock execution, and his leg was broken. Just this year, close two million Afghans have been returned to the country, primarily by Pakistan and Iran, many of them forced or compelled to do so by States where they have been living. Nobody should be sent back to a country where they face risk of persecution on account of their identity or personal history. Individual assessments must be carried out before anyone is returned to Afghanistan.”
3. Wide shot, Palais Wilson
“A UN report published today documents serious human rights violations committed against people involuntarily returned to Afghanistan. This includes instances of torture and ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary arrest and detention by the de facto authorities,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said.
Since 2023, large numbers of Afghans have been involuntarily returned to the country, primarily by Pakistan and Iran.
The report issued by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the UN Human Rights Office is based on interviews conducted in 2024 with 49 individuals involuntarily returned to Afghanistan.
“Sending people back to a country where they are at risk of persecution, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, is in violation of the principle of non-refoulement and a serious breach of international law. Those particularly at risk in Afghanistan are women and girls, people connected to the former government and its security forces, media workers and civil society,” Laurence said.
Interviewees affiliated with the former government and its security forces revealed that they had been forced to go into hiding since returning due to fears of reprisals, despite the de facto authorities’ publicly stated amnesty for all who had previously fought against them in the conflict.
“Among the cases singled out in the report is that of a former TV reporter who fled after the Taliban takeover, and who has subsequently returned involuntarily. She describes feeling effectively under house detention. For women and girls, she says, there are no jobs, no freedom of movement, and no education beyond grade six,” Laurence said.
“Another person in the report, a former government official, describes how, after his return in 2023, he was detained for two nights in a house where he was severely tortured, suffering beatings and waterboarding. He said he was subjected to a mock execution, and his leg was broken,” he said.
“Just this year, close two million Afghans have been returned to the country, primarily by Pakistan and Iran, many of them forced or compelled to do so by States where they have been living,” Laurence said.
“Nobody should be sent back to a country where they face risk of persecution on account of their identity or personal history. Individual assessments must be carried out before anyone is returned to Afghanistan,” he added.
The report urges States to ensure that individualised assessments are carried out before any return of persons to Afghanistan, and to refrain from returning any individuals at real risk of serious human rights violations to Afghanistan.
States are also called on to increase the availability of safe pathways for Afghans at risk to leave the country and to remain safely in their territories without fear of detention for purposes of expulsion.
