UN Envoy Warns Of Consequences Of Mass Afghan Returns, Urges Global Response

The two ministers last met on 22 June during the 51st session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Istanbul.

The upcoming visit comes amid an apparent shift in regional diplomacy, with the Taliban recently upgrading its diplomatic representation in Pakistan from chargé d'affaires to ambassador. The appointment followed a trilateral meeting in Beijing between the foreign ministers of the Taliban, China, and Pakistan.

Despite these diplomatic engagements, tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban remain high. Over recent years, border forces from both sides have clashed multiple times at key crossings including Torkham, Dand-e-Patan, and Spin Boldak.

Pakistan has also launched two airstrikes on Afghan territory, sparking strong condemnation from the Taliban.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban of providing safe haven to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants and Baloch separatists, allegedly with Indian support. The Taliban, meanwhile, has countered by accusing Pakistan of aiding Islamic State (ISIS) operatives active in the region.

In a meeting held on Monday, Sharie stated that the Taliban government has drafted dozens of laws based on “the Holy Quran and the traditions of the Prophet,” citing widely recognised sources of Islamic jurisprudence.

According to a statement issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice, the meeting focused on strengthening bilateral ties between Afghanistan and Indonesia, enhancing cooperation, and discussing recent legal developments in the country.

The Justice Minister also emphasised the importance of unity among Muslim nations, stating that Islamic countries should maintain such close cooperation that “they act as though they are one nation.”

While Sharie underscored Islam as the foundation of the Taliban’s legal system, critics argue that the group’s implementation of Sharia has resulted in severe restrictions on civil liberties particularly for women and girls.

Despite Islamic teachings that encourage education for both sexes, the Taliban has continued to bar Afghan girls from secondary schools and universities since regaining power in 2021. The group has also imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s rights, including bans on employment in most sectors, limitations on movement, and exclusion from public life.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has not formally recognised the Taliban administration but continues to engage in diplomatic dialogue.

The female candidates are Shakiba Dawod, Sayara Rahmani and Fatema Haidari. The male candidates include Rohullah Sidiqullah, Inamullah Samoon, Wasel Esaqzai and Mahdi Mawodi.

Shakiba Dawod, an artist living in Paris since 2009, has entered the race in alliance with Iranian journalist Sina Entesari. In an interview with Afghanistan International, Dawod said her candidacy is grounded in personal experience and civic activism. She said she aims to represent those often silenced, women, asylum seekers, exiles and marginalised minorities.

Dawod added that her objective is to serve as a bridge between the lived realities of refugees and the decision-making structures of French society.

Another candidate, Sayara Rahmani, who has lived in France since 2016, is running alongside Rohullah Sidiqullah, a migrants’ rights advocate. Rahmani told Afghanistan International she would prioritise language education, access to housing and mental health support, particularly for women and mothers.

She also pledged to support job-seeking migrants, improve access to the labour market for women, and advocate for the inclusion of the Uzbek language within France’s immigration system.

Currently, 25 candidates from countries including Iran, Syria, Russia, Palestine, Türkiye, Tunisia, Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are contesting seats in the Exile Parliament.

Only individuals with official asylum-seeker status in France are eligible to vote. Voting is conducted online via the Parliament’s official website. Each voter may cast one vote for a male candidate and one for a female candidate.

Voting will remain open until Friday, 18 July, with results expected the following day.

The Parliament of Exiled People (Le Parlement des Exilés) is a non-governmental civil body created to provide a platform for advocacy and participation by those who have fled their countries due to political, social or security threats. The institution seeks to bring the voices and demands of refugees, exiles and migrants into France’s national conversation and to the attention of policymakers.

In a meeting on Monday with Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, Otunbayeva said the return of Afghan migrants from Iran had surged at an alarming rate. She called for urgent international cooperation to respond to the growing needs of returnees.

Despite limited funding for humanitarian relief, Otunbayeva reaffirmed the UN’s commitment to supporting the Afghan people, especially those forcibly returned from abroad. She noted that the UN had convened multiple meetings urging neighbouring countries to pause deportations and voiced hope for outcomes that benefit Afghan nationals.

Also attending the meeting was Arafat Jamal, head of the UNHCR office in Afghanistan, who commended the Afghan public’s willingness to welcome returnees despite ongoing economic hardship.

In response, Hanafi outlined new measures taken by the Taliban at the Islam Qala and Pul-e-Abrisham border crossings, including expanding personnel, providing food and clean water, improving coordination between assigned committees, and setting up additional shelters for deportees.

Over the past two weeks, Iran has expelled hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants, a move widely criticised by international observers, who warn it is exacerbating a growing humanitarian crisis inside Afghanistan. Despite repeated calls from the international community to halt the deportations, Iran has continued with mass expulsions.

Hundreds of users, including activists, have taken to social media platforms in recent weeks, urging a boycott under the hashtag “Boycotting Iranian Goods Is a National Demand,” countering the popular Iranian slogan “Expelling Afghan Migrants Is a National Demand.”

Afghanistan is one of the largest importers of Iranian goods.

Natiq Malekzada, an Afghan activist based in London, wrote on X on Sunday: “We were supposed to meet friends for lunch in London. When I arrived at the location, I saw it was an Iranian restaurant. I made everyone leave.”

He added: “I don’t understand why we have no pride. An Iranian extremist slaps our compatriots, and we still go to their restaurants just because the food is tasty.”

Niloufar Yousefi, another user, wrote using the hashtag “Boycott Iranian Goods for the Oppression of Refugees” that Afghans should not support a regime that humiliates, tortures, and discriminates against Afghan migrants by purchasing its products.

“Until this injustice ends, we will raise our voices through boycotts,” she added, urging Afghan merchants not to import Iranian goods.

Habiba Salehi wrote that boycotting Iranian goods and cutting off water from the Helmand River to Iran would be a justified response to the repeated mistreatment and systemic humiliation of Afghan refugees by the Iranian state. She called the boycott a “defence of national dignity” and encouraged more Afghans to join the campaign.

Ali Reza Hashemi, a doctor in Herat, said in protest that he would stop prescribing Iranian medicines and instead recommend domestic alternatives.

Nasim Kamgar shared a video showing a young Afghan child describing mistreatment by Iranian authorities. “This is not our fate,” he wrote. “We must preserve this in our collective memory, that when we excluded each other, closed schools, committed corruption, and divided by ethnicity, we were all eventually humiliated and had our dignity crushed.”

Using the hashtag “Boycotting Iranian Goods Is a National Demand,” he added that “in difficult days, Afghans only have each other.”

How Much Does Afghanistan Import from Iran?

Afghan activists are calling for a boycott despite Afghanistan being one of the largest buyers of Iranian goods.

The Tehran Times reported on July 11, that in the first three months of the current Iranian year (starting March 2025), Iran exported $520 million worth of non-oil goods to Afghanistan, making Afghanistan Iran’s fifth-largest export market.

Previously, Hossein Roustaei, Iran’s commercial attaché in Kabul, announced that Iran exported over $3.14 billion in non-oil goods to Afghanistan in 2024.

By contrast, Tasnim News Agency quoted an Iranian official in January stating that Afghanistan exported only $54 million worth of goods to Iran in the same year.

This boycott campaign follows growing anger in Afghanistan over Iran’s treatment of Afghan migrants. Following Iran’s ceasefire with Israel, mass deportations of Afghans resumed with increasing intensity. The Taliban reported that more than half a million Afghan migrants were expelled from Iran within 19 days, with tens of thousands returning daily via the Islam Qala border crossing.

Despite Iranian authorities insisting they are only expelling undocumented migrants, Afghan returnees say even those with valid visas and residency documents have been forcibly removed. In some cases, Iranian officers reportedly tore up Afghan migrants' passports and identity papers.