Amnesty International on Tuesday called on world leaders to immediately stop the forced return of refugees and asylum seekers to Afghanistan, citing serious human rights concerns and warning that such actions violate international law.

In a statement, the rights group said millions of Afghan refugees were unlawfully deported in 2025 from countries including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and Germany, despite the human rights situation inside Afghanistan. Amnesty said the returns have taken place amid intensified restrictions on fundamental freedoms, particularly affecting women and girls.

According to the organization, ongoing violations include limits on freedom of movement, bans on women working with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, and the continued exclusion of girls above the age of 12 from education.

Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia, Smriti Singh, said the forced deportations ignore the reasons Afghans fled their country in the first place. “This rush to forcibly return people to Afghanistan disregards the serious dangers they face if sent back,” she said, adding that such actions violate the binding international principle of non-refoulement.

Rights groups claim the human rights situation in Afghanistan has significantly deteriorated since the Islamic Emirate regained power in 2021, with restrictions on media freedom and women’s rights drawing widespread international concern. In October, the United Nations established an independent investigative mechanism to examine alleged international crimes and violations of international law in the country.

The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly rejected such allegations, stating that the rights of citizens are protected within the framework of Sharia law.

The United Nations has warned that ongoing restrictions on Afghan women working with the UN continue to undermine the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance across the country.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that 100 days after Afghan women staff were barred from accessing UN premises, the measures remain in place and are significantly obstructing aid operations.

In a statement, the office called on the authorities to immediately lift all such restrictions.

“Marking 100 days since Afghan women colleagues were prohibited from accessing UN premises, we call on the de facto authorities to lift all such restrictions so that critical support can reach everyone in need,” the statement said.

The UN stressed that systematic discrimination against women and girls is not in Afghanistan’s interest and must end without delay.

It warned that excluding women from humanitarian work has weakened the reach and effectiveness of aid delivery, particularly in communities where female staff are essential to accessing women, children and other vulnerable groups.

According to the UN, the absence of women humanitarian workers has reduced the ability of aid agencies to assess needs, deliver assistance and monitor programs effectively, at a time when millions of Afghans depend on humanitarian support.

Reiterating its position, the United Nations emphasized that the full participation of women in humanitarian activities is critical to addressing the country’s urgent needs and ensuring aid reaches all segments of the population.

The UN has repeatedly urged Afghan authorities to reverse policies restricting women’s participation in public life, warning that continued limitations risk deepening the humanitarian crisis and isolating Afghanistan further from the international community.

More than 17 million people in Afghanistan are expected to face crisis levels of hunger during the coming winter months, according to a new warning from the United Nations and the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading global authority on hunger crises.

The IPC reported that worsening economic conditions, recurrent drought, shrinking international aid and the return of large numbers of Afghans from neighboring Iran and Pakistan have placed severe pressure on the country’s food security. The situation marks a sharp deterioration compared with last year.

“What the IPC tells us is that more than 17 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute food insecurity. That is three million more than last year,” said Jean-Martin Bauer, Director of Food Security at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), speaking to reporters in Geneva. Bauer added that nearly four million children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

“About one million of them are severely acutely malnourished and require hospital treatment,” he said.

The IPC report said food assistance currently reaches only 2.7 percent of Afghanistan’s population, a figure further undermined by high unemployment, a weak economy and declining remittances from Afghans living abroad.

According to the assessment, more than one-third of the population is projected to experience crisis-level food insecurity between now and March 2026, with as many as 4.7 million people at risk of falling into emergency levels of hunger.

The humanitarian situation has been compounded by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck eastern Kunar province in September, killing more than 2,200 people and prompting aid agencies to appeal for increased international support.

The European Union has pledged €1 million in humanitarian funding along with 130 tonnes of in-kind assistance, while the United Kingdom announced £1 million in additional aid.

However, aid agencies say overall funding remains critically low. International humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan has dropped sharply since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) returned to power in 2021.

By September, only 28 percent of the 2025 humanitarian funding target had been met. The United States, once the largest donor, significantly reduced its support earlier this year.

With winter approaching and resources stretched thin, UN agencies warn that without urgent funding and expanded food assistance, millions of Afghans face an increasingly severe humanitarian crisis.