Amid the ongoing crisis of forced returns of Afghan migrants from Iran, an Afghan woman gave birth to a baby girl at the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat province, at an emergency clinic run by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Amid the rising number of forced deportations of Afghan migrants from Iran, a group of Afghan and Iranian civil and human rights activists held a protest on Friday (4 July) in front of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Berlin, Germany.

Amid growing concerns over the treatment of Afghan migrants in neighboring countries, Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, says that hundreds of Afghan migrants, especially from ethnic and religious minority groups, have been arrested in Iran on charges of spying for Israel.

Following the Russian Federation’s recognition of the Taliban regime, a number of Afghan civil society organizations, protest movements, and human rights groups have issued a joint statement condemning the decision as “an endorsement of violence, denial of justice, and legitimization of gender apartheid,” warning that it could lead to increased repression, particularly against women, minorities, and independent voices.