Photo: @Af_Journalist / X The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says that more than 5,000 Afghan children have been separated from their families due to the forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran. Tajudeen Oyewale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, wrote in a message on his X page on Sunday (29 June): “On average, 20,000 migrants enter Afghanistan from Iran each day. One-quarter of them are children.” He added that the mass deportation process has led to the separation of more than 5,000 children from their family members. According to Oyewale, UNICEF is providing support at the border crossings in Herat province in areas such as health, nutrition, and access to clean water for returnees. This comes as reports indicate that more than 100,000 Afghan migrants have been deported from Iran in just the past week.

Sent to Zan TV A group of civil society activists, journalists, protesting women, and Afghan migrants living in Pakistan expressed appreciation on Saturday (28 June) in Islamabad for the efforts of Fawzia Koofi, head of the “Movement of Change for Afghanistan” party, in defending the rights of Afghan refugees. According to the statement released at the event, this show of support follows Ms. Koofi’s recent meetings with exiled Afghan migrants and some Pakistani political officials. These meetings aimed to address issues such as residency documentation, forced deportations, arbitrary arrests, and lack of legal support for refugees. The statement notes that on 7 April of this year, Ms. Koofi met with a group of civil society activists, journalists, and Afghan migrants in Islamabad. In that meeting, she emphasized that she would raise the concerns of refugees, including arbitrary detentions, forced deportations, the uncertain status of migrant children, and lack of legal protection with Pakistani officials. According to her, silence and inaction in the face of this situation are “unjustifiable,” and there must be a unified voice and strong will to defend the rights of refugees and migrants. The statement adds that following this, Fawzia Koofi met with Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister, as well as several members of the country’s parliament. In those meetings, she discussed the problems of Afghan migrants, and Pakistani officials promised to review and follow up on the issues raised. Afghan migrant activists at the event, while expressing gratitude for Ms. Koofi’s recent efforts, emphasized that her work is an important step toward improving the situation of migrants in Pakistan. It is worth noting that after the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, thousands of citizens were forced to migrate to neighboring countries, especially Pakistan, due to security threats and harsh living conditions, and now face numerous challenges, including forced deportations.

Photo: AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced that in just the first six months of this year, around 640,000 Afghan migrants have returned from Iran, while 3,066 of them were forcibly deported. Arefullah Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Kabul, expressed concern on Sunday (29 June) about the situation of returnees, saying that many families are coming back to Afghanistan with minimal belongings, exhausted, hungry, and uncertain about their future. He added that women and girls, in particular, are worried about restrictions on their freedom of movement and basic rights such as education and employment. UNHCR has stressed that urgent support from the international community is needed to assist Afghan returnees. The agency said that despite the ongoing provision of basic aid to returnees, severe funding shortages are threatening the continuation of services for these individuals.

Sent To Zan TV A number of the "Afghanistan Women’s Rights Watch" met with Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, on yesterday (June 28) in Ankara, Turkey. During the meeting, Zakira Hakmat, founder of the Afghanistan Women’s Rights Watch, gave an overview of the organization’s formation, activities, and goals, stressing the need to institutionalize independent monitoring of the status of women’s rights in Afghanistan. She also outlined the organization’s future plans for documenting human rights violations against women both inside and outside the country. Members of the organization raised a wide range of women’s rights violations in Afghanistan, including increased domestic violence, forced and child marriages, harassment of women, and the arrest and torture of civil activists, journalists, and human rights defenders in Taliban prisons. They also expressed concern about the forced deportation of Afghan women refugees from neighboring countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. During the session, journalist Tamim Attaiy highlighted the catastrophic state of human rights in Afghanistan, saying: “The Taliban have not only deprived women of their human rights, they have completely erased them from social, economic, educational spaces, and even from the right to breathe in society. What is happening in Afghanistan today is nothing less than gender apartheid. Yet the international community has remained silent or issued only shallow and ineffective responses to these crimes.” He added, “We need concrete action, targeted political pressure, and clear accountability, not just statements of concern. Unfortunately, some figures, through their troubling remarks, have contributed to normalizing and whitewashing the Taliban without being held accountable.” Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur, welcomed the work of the Women’s Rights Watch and described the creation of such an organization as an important step toward accurately documenting the situation of women in Afghanistan. He expressed his support for their efforts. At the conclusion of the meeting, a detailed and well-documented report on violations of Afghan women’s rights was presented to Mr. Bennett by the organization’s members.

Photo: X/AmbassadorSadiq Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan has announced that hundreds of Afghan students have arrived in Pakistan under the third phase of the Allama Iqbal scholarship program. This program includes free education in various academic fields such as medicine, engineering, computer science, management, agriculture, and social sciences at universities in Pakistan. Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s Special Representative, wrote on his X page on Friday (27 June) that Afghan girls are also among these students. This comes as girls’ education at secondary and university levels has been banned in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. According to Pakistani officials, in the third phase of the program, over 20,000 individuals, including 5,000 girls, had registered for these scholarships. The second phase of the initiative began in the month of December last year, and in total, around 4,500 full scholarships for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies have been allocated to Afghan students over the span of three years. These scholarships are being offered at a time when the international community, including human rights and education organizations, has repeatedly called for the lifting of educational restrictions on girls in Afghanistan.

Photo: Hasht-e Subh Daily Local sources in Helmand province say that a 45-year-old man in Marjah district of the province has married a six-year-old girl. According to these sources, the child’s family gave her to the man in exchange for money. It is said that the man also has two other wives. These sources told the media on Friday (27 June) that the Taliban have currently prevented the transfer of the girl to the man’s home. However, Taliban officials have not yet made any official statement on the matter. It is worth noting that, according to human rights organizations, cases of early and child marriage have increased since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Photo: UNAMA The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in its latest report, has stated that the analysis of drug use patterns in Afghanistan shows that men often begin using drugs at younger ages and with cannabis, while women mostly start with opium. This report, published today Thursday (26 June), examines public drug use sites, usage patterns, access methods, and available treatment services, and is based on studies conducted in 2022 and 2023. According to the findings, opium is the most commonly used drug among female users in Afghanistan, followed by methamphetamine, heroin, and sedatives, respectively. In contrast, cannabis use among women is reported to be “very low.” The UNODC also reported the presence of more than 2,670 women at drug use gathering sites across the country, accounting for about 10 percent of all users in those places. These sites, which in 2022 numbered 651 across 32 provinces, are places where group drug use, including high-risk injection, is common. According to the report, 53 percent of male participants and only 29 percent of female participants had previously received treatment for substance use disorders. The report states that factors such as a lack of services, absence of scientific facilities, poor nutrition in treatment centers, financial difficulties, and fear of stigma are among the main obstacles to accessing treatment. Additionally, many of these individuals live in difficult socio-economic conditions; half are illiterate, some are divorced, separated, or homeless. This comes as the Taliban, after returning to power, have declared the production, use, purchase, and sale of drugs illegal and have launched campaigns to collect addicts from the streets. The group claims that those collected are being placed under treatment.

Photo: MOHSEN KARIMI/AFP The Independent Coalition of Afghanistan Women’s Protest Movements has issued a statement expressing deep concern over the alarming and dire situation of women’s rights activists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, journalists, and vulnerable Afghan individuals currently living in Iran, and has called for urgent support from the international community. The statement says that hundreds of women protesters, journalists, and human rights activists who were forced to flee the country due to threats, repression, and systematic exclusion after the fall of the previous Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover, are now facing “catastrophic” conditions in Iran. The coalition stressed that Afghan refugees in Iran are deprived of the most basic human rights and live in conditions of statelessness, poverty, and repression. In addition, ongoing military tensions, regional security crises, and internal pressures in Iran have increased the risk of arrest, forced deportation, police violence, and social exclusion for these individuals. The Independent Coalition of Afghanistan Women’s Protest Movements, in this statement, called for immediate and concrete action from international organizations regarding the worsening situation of Afghan activists in Iran. The coalition urged international human rights organizations and safe countries to provide the necessary conditions for the urgent evacuation and resettlement of these individuals. This movement also called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold its humanitarian commitments and to refrain from arresting, forcibly deporting, or carrying out any form of violent behavior against these refugees. This comes as reports indicate an increase in the arrests and forced deportations of Afghans in Tehran; an action that has raised further concerns among Afghan activists and refugees in Iran. According to reports, thousands of Afghans are returning daily through the Islam Qala border, and this wave of forced return has intensified following the announcement of a new deadline by Iranian authorities.

Social Media Following a violent attack by a 31-year-old Belarusian man on a roughly two-year-old Afghan child at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, the Coordination Council of Afghanistan Political and Consular Missions and the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have condemned the act and called for a serious investigation. A video circulating on social media shows the man first picking up the child and then slamming him violently to the ground. According to reports, the Afghan child sustained fractures to the spine and skull, and his medical condition has been reported as critical. The child is currently under care at a hospital in Moscow. It has been reported that the child, along with his mother, had fled the war between Iran and Israel and entered Russia. Moscow police have announced that the attacker has been arrested on charges of “attempted murder” and that investigations into the motive are ongoing. The Coordination Council of Afghanistan Political and Consular Missions condemned the incident and described it as “brutal and inhumane.” The council has called for an immediate and transparent investigation by Russian authorities and emphasized that the incident highlights the concerning situation of Afghan refugees and the urgent need for greater international attention to their condition. Additionally, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement calling on the Russian government to pursue the case seriously and punish the accused. The ministry stated that the Taliban embassy advisor in Moscow assured the child’s family that, in addition to financial assistance from Kabul, all possible cooperation would be provided.

Sent to Zan TV On June 26, coinciding with the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Afghanistan Women’s Movement in Exile issued a statement calling on the international community to pay attention to the situation of Afghan women who are victims of torture, both inside Afghanistan and in exile. The statement says that torture for Afghan women is a “present reality” and not merely a memory of the past. According to the movement, women in Taliban prisons face the worst forms of psychological, physical, and sexual violence. They say women are arrested, flogged, humiliated, or even killed merely for their knowledge, desire for freedom, or civic activism. However, the Afghanistan Women’s Movement in Exile stressed that the suffering of Afghan women is not limited to inside the country, but continues in another form in host countries. One part of the statement reads: “Today, we are also victims of another form of torture in exile; ruthless deportations, detention in camps, statelessness, constant fear of case rejection, uncertainty, discrimination, and humiliation.” The movement emphasized that Afghan women at borders, in immigration offices, camps, and aid distribution lines face “injustice, helplessness, and voicelessness” on a daily basis. Another part of the statement reads: “Torture is not only solitary confinement; the Afghan woman is tortured in her own home, in escape, at the border, in the silence of the world.” These women have called on the countries involved in the Afghan crisis to take responsibility for supporting victims of torture, especially women. They also called for reopening the files related to crimes against humanity committed against women, particularly after the fall of the republic. By commemorating this day, the Afghanistan Women’s Movement in Exile declared that the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is not merely a date, but a cry of pain from millions of tortured women and people, both in their homeland and in exile. The statement ends with: “Torture, wherever and in whatever form, must end.”