Iran, Pakistan Deport Afghans Out of Fear of Nation’s Progress, Says Taliban Minister

“It’s a horrible atmosphere,” he told the Daily Mail. “The nearest thing to hell I can imagine.”

The 79-year-old is being held with violent criminals, including a man who murdered his wife and three children. Despite the circumstances, Reynolds has urged his family not to pay any ransom. In phone calls shared with The Sunday Times, he said that even millions of dollars would not change the situation. He insisted the Taliban must acknowledge their mistake.

Reynolds also expressed concern for his 75-year-old wife, Barbie, who is detained in the women’s section of the same prison. The couple have asked for daily visitation rights, but these requests have been repeatedly denied.

The Taliban arrested the couple in February while they were returning to their home in Bamiyan. They are accused of carrying forged passports. Both were brought separately to court in Kabul, but after a four-hour wait, the hearing was cancelled. No new date has been announced.

Their youngest son, Jonathan Reynolds—an American citizen—spoke in a video outside the White House, appealing to former President Donald Trump for help. He said his parents are being held without charges. Jonathan highlighted that the family has lived in the US for 26 years and that Peter and Barbie have 13 American children and grandchildren.

He also pointed to the recent release of Faye Hall, a US citizen arrested with the Reynolds couple, in a deal made with the American government.

According to The Telegraph, the couple may have become pawns in an internal Taliban power struggle. Their arrest was reportedly ordered by a commander from the Haqqani network.

A senior Taliban official told the newspaper: “This is part of a broader plan to sideline [leader Hibatullah Akhundzada] and position Haqqani as a more West-facing figure by releasing foreign nationals.”

Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years. They hold dual British-Afghan citizenship and founded Rebuild, an organisation delivering educational programmes for both governmental and non-governmental institutions.

Activists say the Taliban have decided to release Qadriya into the custody of her father—despite his previous calls for her execution.

In a letter sent to the UN office in Kabul on Saturday, the advocates appealed for urgent action. They asked UNAMA to use all available resources to protect Qadriya and secure a safe shelter for her.

Local sources informed Afghanistan International that the Taliban handed Qadriya over to her father the same day. In a prior video message from Taliban custody, she expressed grave fears for her life, stating she would be killed if returned to her family home.

The letter mentioned a voice recording, allegedly from inside the prison, believed to be from Qadriya. In it, she reportedly pleads for help from human rights defenders. Activists say she described previous torture by her father, who was also the first to demand her stoning.

In the video, Qadriya said she preferred to remain in Taliban custody rather than return home, unless a safe alternative could be provided.

Activists stressed that the Taliban released her solely on the guarantee of her father. They warned of the serious threat to her life and called on the UN to act immediately.

The letter also referred to a Taliban statement issued on 27 July 2023, when local authorities in Baghlan province announced plans to publicly stone two individuals—Qadriya and a man named Atiq—on charges of “illicit relations.”

In a recently obtained video, Qadriya explains that her father filed a complaint in a Taliban court two years ago, seeking her stoning. At the time, she was enduring abuse in her father’s home and fled to her sister’s residence in Kabul for refuge.

According to the newspaper, 26 Afghan women had their asylum applications denied in the first three months of 2024. In total, the UK has turned down asylum claims from 2,000 Afghans.

Official statistics highlight a sharp decline in the acceptance rate for Afghan asylum cases, plummeting from 98.5 percent in the last quarter of 2023 to just 36 percent in the final quarter of 2024.

The woman, identified only as Mina (a pseudonym), was a prominent advocate for women’s education in Afghanistan before the Taliban regained control of Kabul. She told The Guardian: “I assumed my asylum claim would be granted—I am from Afghanistan, I’m a woman, and I worked with Western governments. The refusal was an absolute shock.” She added, “Now every day I fear being sent back to my home country. Having a normal life here feels like an unattainable dream. I’m really suffering mentally.”

During her asylum interview, Mina detailed the dangers she would face if returned to Afghanistan. However, the Home Office’s rejection letter stated that she would not face a “real risk of persecution or harm.” The letter dismissed her claims of “adverse attention” from the Taliban as insufficient evidence and suggested that her occupation likely provided her with “a great support network.”

Mina’s UK solicitor, Jamie Bell, expressed dismay at the decision, telling The Guardian: “It is shocking that 26 Afghan women were refused asylum in the last quarter.” He criticized the Home Office’s stance, calling it “deeply concerning” that the department believes women who risked their lives defending human rights would not be in danger upon returning to Afghanistan. Bell emphasized that the UK should take pride in supporting individuals like Mina.

They appealed to Afghans to “stand with us to claim our rights from the Taliban” and urged the international community to pressure the Taliban to release owed pensions.

In a video clip sent to Afghanistan International, a retiree accused the Taliban of four years of broken promises, revealing he lacked bread during Eid al-Fitr and sold his carpet to survive.

Since seizing Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban halted pension payments, exacerbating economic hardship amid rising poverty, unemployment, and soaring prices for essentials.

Retirees say the absence of pensions has plunged their lives into severe difficulty. Three months ago, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada directed pension cases to special courts, but protesters claim this has only sown confusion without delivering results.

Kabir proposed a joint session with Iranian officials to negotiate their return, according to a Saturday statement from the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees, which highlighted discussions on bilateral ties and repatriation.

Kabir noted frequent Iranian visits to Kabul as a sign of Tehran’s interest in friendly relations, urging Iran to allow Afghan refugees more time for voluntary return. He revealed plans for a mechanism to provide legal documents to Afghans whose residency in Iran has expired, ensuring lawful stays.

Bahrami invited Kabir to Tehran, suggesting a pre-visit roadmap to enhance progress on a mutual repatriation agreement.

Bahrami claimed 8 million Afghans reside in Iran, with 4 million lacking legal documents or overstaying permits. The Iranian Embassy in Kabul previously stated the Taliban agreed to repatriate undocumented migrants.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported over 1.2 million Afghans returned from Iran in 2024, with 67 percent forcibly deported. Nader Yarahmadi, head of Iran’s Migration Center, earlier said over 3 million Afghans were deported in the past three years.