Afghan Asylum Crisis; A ‘Poisoned Cup’ Government Must Swallow

According to a leaked document, EU agencies acknowledged Afghanistan’s “worsening security situation and threats to which people are exposed,” they callously insisted that “more than 80,000 persons could potentially need to be returned in the near future.”
According to Amnesty International report, similarly, a confidential Afghan source with knowledge of the agreement described it as “a poisoned cup” the Afghanistan government was forced to swallow in exchange for aid.
There is credible evidence that this “need” was expressed in the form of pressure on the Afghan government. Ekil Hakimi, Afghanistan’s Finance Minister, told parliament: “If Afghanistan does not cooperate with EU countries on the refugee crisis, this will negatively impact the amount of aid allocated to Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, the European governments have put thousands of Afghans in harm’s way by forcibly returning them to a country where they are at serious risk of torture, kidnapping, death and other human rights abuses, Amnesty International reported.
The numbers of forcible returns from Europe have soared at a time when civilian casualties recorded by the UN are at their highest levels.

“In their determination to increase the number of deportations, European governments are implementing a policy that is reckless and unlawful. Wilfully blind to the evidence that violence is at a record high and no part of Afghanistan is safe, they are putting people at risk of torture, kidnapping, death and other horrors,” said Anna Shea, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Refugee and Migrant Rights.
On the other hand, Horia Mosadiq, Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Researcher says that “These returns brazenly violate international law and must stop immediately. The same European countries that once pledged support for a better future for Afghans are now crushing their hopes and abandoning them to a country that has become even more dangerous since they fled.”

In 2016, according to UNAMA, more than 11,000 people were killed or injured. Attacks on civilians took place in every part of the country and most of them were carried out by armed groups, including the Taliban and the so-called Islamic State. In the first six months of 2017 alone, UNAMA documented more than 5,000 civilian casualties.