The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday it had summoned officials from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) over a report detailing the detention and torture of Afghan migrants deported from neighbouring countries.
In a statement issued on 10 August, the ministry warned UNAMA that it would take “necessary measures” if the mission continued publishing reports “intended to disturb public opinion.”
The response came after a joint report by UNAMA and the UN Human Rights Office alleged that Afghan returnees, particularly women, former soldiers, ex-government employees and journalists, face serious risks of torture, arbitrary detention and other human rights abuses by the Taliban. The findings, published earlier, were based on interviews with 49 returnees from Iran and Pakistan in 2024.
The Taliban said a joint commission, comprising representatives from the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and the intelligence agency, had reviewed the UN findings.
According to the Taliban statement, the report was “substandard,” exaggerated incidents, and framed them in a “political, ethnic and linguistic” context. It accused UNAMA of “distorting realities” and ignoring Afghanistan’s religious and social values.
The ministry claimed that instead of focusing on assistance provided to migrants, UNAMA had “played with words” to stir public concern, relying on the experiences of “a small number” of individuals while overlooking what it called the “safe and dignified” return of millions of Afghans.
The Taliban further alleged that UNAMA “deliberately” chose a handful of deportees for its report and that many of the claims were speculative and unsupported by evidence. It accused the mission of using politically charged language and violating neutrality.
UNAMA’s July report documented alleged abuses including torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and threats to personal safety by the Taliban.
The Taliban told UNAMA officials to “seriously review” their reporting methods and take steps to address what they called “scientific and professional shortcomings.”
The summons comes against a backdrop of strained relations between the Taliban and UN human rights bodies. The group has previously barred the UN special rapporteur on human rights from entering Afghanistan, although both the rapporteur and UNAMA continue to release critical reports on the country’s rights situation.
In its latest quarterly update, UNAMA also cited widespread human rights violations, including restrictions on women, risks to returnees, public executions, and pressure on the media and civil society activists.
