UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett.
UN human rights experts warned European Union member states against deporting Afghans to Afghanistan, saying governments must assess the risks facing each person and comply with international obligations prohibiting returns where individuals could face serious human rights violations.
The experts said the human rights situation in Afghanistan remains dire, particularly for women and girls, as well as ethnic and religious minorities, human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTQ+ people, former Afghan security personnel and some former government employees.
“The human rights situation in Afghanistan remains dire,” the experts said in a statement. “Women and girls are suffering gender persecution on such a widespread and systematic scale that they may amount to crimes against humanity.”
They cited reports of torture, extrajudicial killings and other serious violations affecting groups they said could face heightened risks if returned.
The experts invoked the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to countries where they face risks including arbitrary deprivation of life, torture or other ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention or other serious human rights violations.
“States must ensure individualised assessments of risk prior to return,” they said. “Involuntary returns require due process.”
They said diplomatic assurances from authorities in a destination country do not relieve European states of their international obligations and should not be used to circumvent the principle of non-refoulement.
The statement was issued by a group of UN independent experts, including Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan; Cecilia M. Bailliet, independent expert on human rights and international solidarity; Gehad Madi, special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Ben Saul, special rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism; and members of the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.
The experts also raised concerns about European engagement with Taliban authorities, citing what they described as the first official visit by a Taliban delegation to Brussels in June 2026.
They said that while the European Commission described the meeting as technical, the head of the Taliban delegation described it as historic.
“We remain concerned that such engagement, without clear redlines on the need for improvements in respect for human rights, leads to the normalisation of gross human rights violations by the Taliban, including gender persecution,” the experts said.
They also expressed concern that some European countries have continued discussions aimed at facilitating deportations while accepting Taliban consular officials on their territories.
The experts urged EU countries to increase pressure for improvements in Afghanistan’s human rights situation and said engagement with Taliban authorities should not lead to their normalization or legitimization without concrete changes.
“There must be no normalisation or legitimation of the Taliban unless there are concrete improvements on human rights, including the lifting of the ban on the education of girls and women over sixth grade,” they said.
The experts said they have formally contacted the European Union and the governments of several EU member states over the issue.