United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan Richard Bennett has criticised the forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan, saying countries abandon their legal and moral obligations.
In a post published Friday on X (formerly Twitter), Bennett warned of a growing global human rights crisis, noting that large numbers of Afghans, including asylum seekers, have been forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan. He also raised concerns about the risk of deportations from other countries.
Bennett urged governments involved in the removals to reverse course and uphold their international responsibilities.
Mass deportations from Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries have intensified in recent months, raising fears of a worsening humanitarian crisis. According to international organisations, nearly two million Afghan migrants were deported from Iran and Pakistan in the first half of 2025.
Germany has also resumed deportations. On Friday, a Qatar Airways flight transported 81 Afghan asylum seekers from Germany to Kabul, marking one of the latest returns under Berlin’s revised immigration policy.
UN human rights experts condemned the deportations from Iran, Pakistan, and other countries, describing them as violations of international law and the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the forced return of individuals to countries where they face serious threats to life or freedom.
In a statement issued Friday, the experts said more than 1.9 million Afghans had been forcibly returned in the first six months of the year. Of those, over 1.5 million were deported from Iran and more than 300,000 from Pakistan.
The statement warned that returnees, particularly women, girls, minority groups, former government officials, and human rights defenders, face significant risks of persecution, violence, and abuse under Taliban rule.
