The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has issued a fresh travel advisory, warning British citizens against all travel to nine countries, including Afghanistan, due to serious safety and security concerns.
Afghanistan was highlighted as particularly dangerous. The FCDO described the situation there as “volatile,” noting that travel across the country is extremely hazardous and border crossings may be closed without notice.
Key risks cited in the advisory include armed conflict, arbitrary detention, political instability, and natural disasters.
The countries listed in the warning are Afghanistan, Iran, South Sudan, Russia, Haiti, Belarus, Libya, Syria, and Yemen.
For Iran, the advisory specifically warned that British and dual British-Iranian nationals are at heightened risk of arrest and detention. “Having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you,” the statement said.
Russia was also named due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The FCDO cited a high likelihood of terrorist attacks, drone strikes, Russian air defence activity, and limited availability of return flights to the UK as primary concerns.
Pakistan has detained and deported nearly 4,000 Afghan migrants in a single day as part of its intensified crackdown on undocumented foreigners.
In the past 24 hours, Punjab police arrested over 2,772 Afghan nationals. More than 1,300 of them were deported. Separately, the Deputy Commissioner of Khyber District reported that around 1,100 Afghan migrants were identified and deported yesterday.
Under current directives, all police stations are required to submit daily reports on migrant detentions. These reports are forwarded to senior officials through the security division to ensure close monitoring of deportation efforts.
According to The News, police officers have been warned that delays or negligence in the process will lead to disciplinary action. Stations have also been instructed to manage deportation operations in rotating shifts to maintain continuous oversight and control.
This campaign is part of Pakistan’s wider enforcement of a new immigration policy. The government says the measures are necessary to address national security threats and to remove all undocumented foreign nationals.
However, human rights organisations have criticised the deportations. They say migrants face mistreatment and are being removed without proper legal procedures.
At the Torkham border, customs officials and other sources told The News that vehicles carrying Afghan families and goods must now have valid Temporary Admission Documents (TAD). Without these, they will be denied entry into Afghanistan.
Drivers transporting Afghan families from various cities have been advised to obtain the necessary documentation in advance. Cargo from vehicles without TADs will need to be offloaded and reloaded onto other vehicles for further transport into Afghan cities.
The Taliban’s Minister of Public Health, Noor Jalal Jalali, has claimed that the forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan reflects those countries’ fear of Afghanistan’s progress.
Speaking at the opening of a new terminal in the Pul-e-Charkhi area of Kabul on Saturday, Jalali criticised the treatment of Afghan migrants abroad. He alleged that both Pakistan and Iran have harassed Afghans, confiscated their property, and expelled them unfairly.
“Afghans have earned their property and assets in these countries through hard work,” he said. “But now their belongings are being taken away and they are being forcibly expelled.”
Jalali called on Afghan migrants to return and invest in the country’s reconstruction. He urged them to contribute to Afghanistan’s development rather than endure abuse abroad.
According to Taliban-controlled Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), Jalali accused Pakistan in particular of being unable to accept Afghanistan’s progress and of mistreating migrants out of hostility.
Both Iran and Pakistan have hosted millions of Afghan refugees for decades. However, in recent months they have stepped up arrests and deportations, creating increasingly difficult conditions for Afghan nationals.
Pakistan has already expelled over 800,000 Afghans and plans to deport up to three million by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that over 1.2 million Afghans returned from Iran in 2024, with 67 percent of them forcibly deported.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of Iran’s Ministry of Interior’s Centre for Foreign Nationals and Migrants Affairs, said that more than three million Afghans have been deported from Iran over the past three years.
Peter Reynolds, a British citizen held in Taliban custody, has described his prison conditions as “hell.” Speaking from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul, Reynolds said the environment is extremely harsh, with guards constantly shouting and beating inmates.
“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.
Women’s rights advocates in Baghlan have urged the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to intervene in the case of Qadriya, a female prisoner and survivor of domestic violence.
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.
A recent report by The Guardian reveals that the UK Home Office has rejected the asylum claim of an Afghan woman human rights activist, asserting that it is safe for her to return to Afghanistan.
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.