Hashmat101

As we mark World Refugee Day (June 20), millions of Afghan citizens — especially women — continue to live in exile, facing displacement, discrimination, and complete deprivation of rights. More than four decades of war, structural violence, foreign occupation, failed governance, and ultimately the return of the Taliban have made Afghanistan one of the world’s largest sources of refugees. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 14), the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, and its 1967 Protocol, every person fleeing their country due to fear of persecution, political or gender-based threats, or threats to life, has the right to seek asylum and receive protection. International human rights law and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) also affirm that no woman should be returned to a country where she faces violence, persecution, or the denial of her rights. Yet the bitter reality is: Thousands of Afghan women in neighboring countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey face the threat of arrest, deportation, statelessness, forced labor, sexual violence, and discrimination in accessing health care and education. Women human rights defenders, journalists, judges, lawyers, professors, and teachers, who fled Afghanistan due to their gender or professional backgrounds, are left in limbo in host countries, with no clear path to resettlement or safety. The silence of the international community — especially bodies like UNHCR and the nations involved in Afghanistan’s collapse — amounts to a grave injustice toward women whose only “crime” was demanding their right to education, work, and a life of dignity. The Afghan Women’s Movement in Exile warns that the ongoing neglect of this crisis not only constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and international obligations, but also poses a direct threat to the lives and mental well-being of thousands of Afghan refugee women. Therefore, we: Urge the United Nations, human rights institutions, and host countries to immediately halt deportations of Afghan women and families, and to grant them legal residency and protection; Call for an expedited and transparent resettlement process, particularly for vulnerable Afghan women.

We, the undersigned, express our deep concern over the deteriorating situation of Afghan migrants residing in Iran and Pakistan, and we do so based on the core principles of human rights and the international obligations of states. In recent months, credible international reports and on-the-ground sources have documented a sharp escalation in mass deportations, arbitrary detentions, systematic violence, and blatant violations of Afghan migrants’ basic rights.These actions are largely carried out without due legal process, without individual assessment, and without consideration of special or vulnerable circumstances. As a result of this crisis: Hundreds of thousands of migrants—including women, children, the elderly, and the sick—have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan without any protection mechanism. This return occurs despite the fact that Afghanistan does not meet any standard for voluntary, safe, or sustainable repatriation.Numerous cases of suicide, severe depression, and psychological collapse have been reported among young migrants. Sexual violence against women, children, and adolescents—both during deportation and in detention centre’s—is a painful and underreported dimension of this crisis. Thousands of migrants are deprived of access to education, healthcare, job security, shelter, and the most basic human rights. Migrants are increasingly used as tools of political pressure and diplomatic bargaining in regional disputes, while lacking voting rights, legal protection, or platforms to defend themselves. In addition, many of those deported or under threat of deportation include journalists, human rights defenders, protesting women, former soldiers, and ex-government employees of Afghanistan—groups internationally recognised as being “at serious risk of persecution. ” Forcibly returning these individuals directly violates states’ obligations under international refugee protection. From the perspective of international law:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Returning individuals to a country where they face torture, persecution, prosecution, or life-threatening danger is prohibited and unlawful.                                                                                                              This principle is grounded in:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The Article 33 of the 1951 Refuge The Convention (Non Refoulement)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The Convention Against Torture (CAT)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The International Covenant on Civil and