Human Rights Watch Accuses UAE Of Authority Against 2,400 Afghan Asylum Seekers

Illustrations-Children In Afghanistan (Photo: Unsplash/Sohaib Ghyasi)

JAKARTA - The Human Rights Watch (HRW) report states that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has arbitrarily detained at least 2,400 Afghan asylum seekers. They, adults and children, were detained at the Abu Dhabi emergency facility after the evacuation from Kabul following the takeover of the Taliban in August 2021. HRW said they were living in a narrow and pathetic condition with no hope of being re-emerged. The UAE denies this report. The UAE government is currently working with the US to complete the re-residential process. More than 10,000 other Afghans flown to the UAE have reportedly returned to the US, Canada, and elsewhere, while another 70,000 were evacuated directly to the US before American troops left Kabul. Reporting from bbc.com, Afghan refugees who were flown to Abu Dhabi after the takeover of the Taliban were placed in two transformed apartment complexes known as the Humanitarian City of Emirates and the City of Tasameem Workers. HRW said in a report published on Wednesday that it had spoken to 16 Afghans detained in Emirates Humanitarian City, including eight people who had previously worked at several points for entities or programs affiliated with the US government in Afghanistan. They report on obstacles in freedom of movement, lack of access to fair and effective refugee status determination, lack of adequate access to legal advisors, inadequate education for children, and lack of psychosocial support. Prisoners also described population density, decomposed infrastructure, and insect attacks, according to US-based campaign groups. An unnamed Afghan was quoted as saying the Emirates Humanitarian City was "persis like a prison", while others described "extensive mental health crisis among the population". Under international law and UN Refugee Agency guidance, asylum seekers and migrants should not be detained for administrative purposes unless necessary and proportionate to achieve legitimate goals, and only if there is no viable alternative. HRW asked the UAE to release prisoners and provide access to a fair and efficient process to determine their status and protective needs. "The government should not ignore the shocking suffering of Afghans stranded in the UAE," said Joey Shea, a UAE researcher from the group. "The US government in particular, which coordinates the evacuation of 2021 and with whom many refugees work before the takeover of the Taliban, must step in and step in immediately to provide support and protection for these asylum seekers." An UAE official told the BBC that refugees from Afghanistan had "received various housing, sanitation, health, clinical, counseling, education, and high-quality food services to ensure their well-being". They also said the UAE continues to work with US authorities to "reconfine the remaining refugees in time". "The UAE continues to do whatever it takes to bring this extraordinary exercise in this humanitarian re-residential settlement to a satisfactory conclusion. We understand that there is frustration and this takes longer than intended to be resolved." The US State Department said there was a "long-lasting" US commitment to recast all eligible Afghans, including those in the Humanitarian City of Emirates.