KABUL, Afghanistan — Germany and several European allies have agreed to press ahead with tougher asylum measures, including deportations to Afghanistan, even as United Nations officials warn that such returns could expose people to serious human rights violations.
Interior ministers from Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Greece met in Berlin on July 18 and backed proposals that would allow deportations of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan and Syria.
The agreement came the same day Germany confirmed it had deported 81 Afghan nationals. The transfer was carried out with help from Qatar and coordination with Taliban authorities.
Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, said in a post on X that he was “highly concerned by Germany deporting 81 Afghans with Taliban & Qatar cooperation. More likely to follow! Urge immediate halt of deportations.”
In a July 18 briefing, Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said forced returns to Afghanistan are creating a “multi‑layered human rights crisis.” He called on countries to immediately halt deportations, particularly in cases were returnees risk persecution, arbitrary detention or torture.
Several U.N. human rights experts also voiced alarm over the recent surge in deportations of Afghans. In a joint statement, special rapporteurs Richard Bennett, Felipe González Morales and Georgette Gagnon said they were “appalled by the accelerating trend of mass forced returns of Afghan nationals.” They warned that sending people back to Afghanistan violates the principle of non‑refoulement and exposes returnees to widespread abuse.
They called on Iran, Pakistan and other countries to immediately stop deporting Afghan migrants and refugees, warning that Afghanistan remains unsafe
Despite growing criticism from U.N. experts and advocacy groups, European ministers say they intend to move forward with coordinated return policies.
