Human Trafficking Rises Due To Taliban’s Forced Displacement, Says Afghan Diplomat at UN

Afghanistan’s Permanent Delegation in Geneva announced that Taliban continues systematic and forced displacement of people in the country. The Afghan mission warned that Taliban’s forced displacements increase the risk of human trafficking.

Muhibullah Tayeb, a human rights advisor in the Afghan delegation in Geneva, addressed the UN Human Rights Council, about the forced displacement in northern and western Afghanistan and said that the oppressive environment in Afghanistan has forced many Afghans to flee the country.

On Sunday, Tayeb warned that after fleeing, the victims of forced displacements remain without protection.

He stressed that the Taliban have shut down shelters for victims of human trafficking and called for measures to protect those who have been forcefully displaced.

Since taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, numerous reports have been published that the Taliban have forcibly displaced local residents in various provinces, including Daikundi, Takhar, Baghlan, Faryab, Panjshir, and Sar-e Pul provinces.

In addition, many local sources said that dozens of families have been relocated to Takhar province from border areas and Pakistan in the past weeks. Some sources said that the families were Pakistani citizens, but others said that they were Afghans who had been displaced by war during the previous years.

Earlier, the Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, had confirmed that refugees from the North Waziristan region of Pakistan have been transferred to areas in western and northern parts of Afghanistan.