With greetings and respect,
We, a group of vulnerable Afghan asylum seekers residing in Pakistan, together with civil society institutions, associations, and movements, submit this letter out of deep concern and a sense of human responsibility, in response to the growing threat of forced deportations of refugees by Pakistani authorities and their return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Following the fall of the Republic of Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power, hundreds of thousands of citizens—especially women, civil activists, journalists, ethnic and religious minorities, human rights defenders, members of the LGBTQ+ community, former military personnel, and others—were forced to flee their country and seek refuge in Pakistan. During this period, many have lived without formal residence documents but under the supervision and recognition of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in camps, safe houses, or border areas.
In recent months, amid growing tensions between the Government of Pakistan and the Taliban, the wave of arrests, harassment, and threats of mass deportation against refugees has sharply intensified. Numerous reports from independent and media sources indicate that dozens of undocumented refugees—including unaccompanied women and children—have been detained or forcibly returned to Afghanistan. Such actions are not only contrary to human conscience but also in direct violation of fundamental principles of international law.
According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, no state may return individuals to a country where they face a risk of torture, political persecution, or threats to their lives. The principle of non-refoulement is recognized as a peremptory norm of international law (jus cogens), binding even on states that are not parties to the Convention.
We therefore call upon the international community—particularly the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and host governments—to:
- Urgently engage with the Government of Pakistan to halt all forced deportations and returns of Afghan refugees;
- Ensure effective physical, legal, and humanitarian protection for Afghan refugees, especially women and children;
- Accelerate the identification, resettlement, and relocation of eligible refugees to safe third countries;
- Prevent the political instrumentalization of refugee situations in intergovernmental disputes.
The international community bears a moral and legal responsibility to prevent the recurrence of humanitarian tragedies. Silence and inaction in the face of forced repatriation would amount to indirect participation in human rights violations and further fuel the cycle of violence in Afghanistan.
We appeal to all international bodies, donor countries, and human rights organizations to hear our voices and take immediate action to prevent another human catastrophe.
With respect and hope for human solidarity,
On behalf of Afghan institutions, associations, and protest movements
