Amnesty expresses concern over UK's "forcible return" approach

Sitting in a relative's dark, tiny room with no electricity and telephone in the capital, Kabul, Nik Mohammad, a newly deported Afghan from Britain, told IRIN he could not decide whether to go home to the troubled southern city of Ghazni, as there were clear security threats. "I heard there were two terrorist incidents and rocket attacks in Ghazni only this week and there is no work at all," said the 28-year-old Afghan, who had gone to Britain during the Taliban period in 2000, and was deported together with 43 other Afghans on Thursday. Following their arrival in Kabul, Amnesty International (AI) warned the British government that the situation in Afghanistan was such that the return of refugees should not be promoted. "The return of 44 people from the UK again gives the signal to other countries that the return to Afghanistan can be promoted," Magda Wendorff Kowalczuk, an acting research coordinator for AI, told IRIN. She said the organisation believed the returns were not sustainable. Kowalczuk said AI was concerned that the basic human rights of returnees would not be guaranteed in a country with deteriorating security and a weak justice system. "Amnesty International recommends that forcible returns not be promoted and the international community instead focuses its attention on providing assistance for reconstruction of the country," she said. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says deportation is a standard practice to safeguard the asylum institution. "UNHCR cannot say no to deportation if the individual asylum-seeker's case has been thoroughly reviewed," Maki Shinohara, a UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN. However, Shinohara said that with regard to Afghanistan, where the infrastructure was so fragile, sustainability of return was of great concern to the UNHCR as well as to the Afghan government. According to the UNHCR, the understanding with the UK for the moment was that deportation involved small numbers of single males, originating from Kabul or other relatively safe city areas. "But the actual procedures of deportation have not been ideal and we are working with the UK authorities to ensure dignified return," Shinohara said, noting that Thursday's return of the 44 Afghans had gone smoothly compared to previous flights. According to the return programme worked out by London, Kabul and the UNHCR, the emphasis should remain on helping those who volunteer to return. The refugee agency said that Pakistan and Iran had already agreed to stick to a gradual, voluntary return programme for the next three years. "The UK also has a programme to provide a return package for those willing to return to Afghanistan, but many Afghans who had been deported so far didn't seem to know about the programme," Shinohara said. The Afghan government has not expressed concern over the deportation of Afghans from Britain. Habibullah Qaderi, a chief advisor to the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, told IRIN that in general, the Afghan government and UNHCR insisted that returns be gradual and in balance with aid and actual progress made in reconstruction. "There is a need to increase the absorption capacity in communities so that returning Afghans can have schools, medical facilities, jobs etc," Qaderi acknowledged, noting that a UK delegation was due in Kabul later this month and that the Afghan government was considering reviewing the return procedures. Meanwhile, Mohammad, who married a resident Afghan in the UK just two months ago, says he is between two worlds. "My wife is in UK and parents in Ghazni," he said, maintaining he did not want to put his wife at risk by inviting her to Afghanistan, and he did not dare to return to his place of origin. "The authorities in the UK said ISAF [The International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan] and coalition forces were ensuring security while there was no security guarantee outside Kabul," Mohammad said.