Human Rights First calls for strong and urgent U.S. diplomatic and resettlement initiatives to protect Afghans at risk of Taliban persecution

Washington, D.C. — In advance of the Government of Pakistan’s September 1, 2025, deportation deadline for Afghan refugees, Human Rights First urges the Trump administration to press the Government of Pakistan to refrain from returning Afghans in danger of Taliban persecution and implement swift resettlement of at-risk Afghan refugees in the coming weeks and the 2026 fiscal year. 

“Afghan refugees who fled retaliation, religious repression, and other threats are facing imminent risks of return to Taliban persecution, and escalating dangers of Taliban torture and abuse if returned,” said Eleanor Acer, Senior Director for Global Humanitarian Protection at Human Rights First. “It is both a moral and strategic imperative for the United States to use its diplomatic and resettlement capacities to protect Afghan refugees from Taliban retaliation and persecution. Those at risk include family members of U.S. service members, Afghans who worked with the U.S. military or mission, and people who put their lives on the line to stand up for human rights.”   

The State Department’s own recently released human rights report on Afghanistan confirms the abuses inflicted by the Taliban. UN human rights experts, UNHCR, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and human rights organizations have expressed alarm, called on states to protect at-risk Afghan refugees from refoulement, and/or called for expanded resettlement.  

Human Rights First urges that the Trump administration: 

• Call on the Government of Pakistan and other governments to halt mass returns of Afghan refugees, uphold international law prohibitions against refoulement of people at risk of persecution or torture, and ensure the Pakistani government does not force people awaiting U.S. resettlement back to Afghanistan. 

• Swiftly resettle thousands of at-risk Afghan refugees awaiting U.S. resettlement who are now stranded in Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, or other locations, and launch a strong U.S. resettlement initiative for fiscal year 2026 for at-risk Afghan and other refugees. These refugees include family members of U.S. service members, Afghans who worked with the U.S. mission, and other refugees at risk of Taliban persecution.
• End the Travel Ban, which blocks reunification of Afghans who were granted asylum in the United States with their immediate family members stranded abroad, and must be lifted to ensure Afghans with refugee, derivative asylee or other legal pathways to the U.S. a chance at safety; reverse the flawed TPS termination which sets a dangerous example to other countries; restore U.S. humanitarian aid critical to supporting states that host large numbers of refugees; and restore funding, operational staffing levels, overseas processing operations of the congressionally authorized Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE). 

In May 2025, Human Rights First called on the Trump administration to take action to protect Afghan refugees from these escalating risks, and issued a report detailing the worsening dangers facing Afghans forced back to their country including: women and girls suffer persecution under an oppressive new law, systematic denial of rights, prohibitions on education, employment, travel and health care, and bans on singing or speaking in public; religious freedom has declined significantly; and retaliation and persecution facing human rights defenders, journalists, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ persons, civil society leaders, women’s rights advocates, and Afghans who previously worked with the with the U.S. military and government, its international partners, and the former Afghan government.    

To speak with Eleanor Acer, please contact [email protected].