UK Home Secretary Considers Sending Rejected Afghan Asylum Seekers Back to Taliban-Controlled Country

Shabana Mahmood, the UK Home Secretary, has indicated that the government is monitoring talks between Kabul and EU countries regarding a returns programme for refused claimants. She also stated that additional conversations about Afghan returns are taking place within Whitehall. This move could be a reversal of the UK's current policy, which prohibits the return of refused asylum seekers to Afghanistan due to the country's poor human rights record.

The United Nations has described Afghanistan as a 'graveyard for human rights' that enforces 'gender apartheid' using torture and corporal punishment. Women and girls over 11 are excluded from education and banned from most forms of paid employment. The UK government is unable to return refused asylum seekers to Afghanistan because it does not recognize the Taliban-led government.

The Swedish government has confirmed that it has facilitated talks between Kabul and Brussels over a returns deal, which is set to take place within weeks. Mahmood stated that the UK is monitoring the situation closely and working with its partners to try to secure agreements. She refused to rule out holding similar talks with the Taliban, saying that she is not going to give a running commentary on additional conversations happening within government.

The UK government is attempting to drive down the number of people arriving via small boats crossing the Channel. Afghans were the most common nationality arriving by small boat in the year ending June 2025, with 6,360 arrivals, an 18% increase from the previous year. Between 2022 and 2024, about 29,600 Afghan nationals claimed asylum in the UK.

Grant rates for Afghan asylum seekers have fallen sharply, from 99% in 2023 to 38% in the first half of 2025, after a higher standard of proof for recognition as a refugee was introduced in 2024. Unless rejected Afghans leave voluntarily, they remain in the UK without any legal status.