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Human RightsUnited Arab Emirates

HRW says thousands of Afghan evacuees 'locked up' in UAE

March 15, 2023

Over 2,000 Afghan asylum seekers are living under "miserable" conditions in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Human Rights Watch advocacy group. Some evacuees have been waiting for resettlement for over a year.

https://p.dw.com/p/4OhmY
Internally displaced Afghans queue up who took refuge in Kabul return to their homes after a year of war
Afghan refugees have been fleeing the country in hopes for relocationImage: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

The rights group Human Rights Watch(HRW)  on Wednesday said between 2,400 and 2,700 Afghans who fled the country after the Taliban takeover were being detained in "prison-like" conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The evacuees have been waiting to be relocated to other countries for more than 15 months after being housed in the "Emirates Humanitarian City."

Why are the refugees in UAE?

At the request of the United States, UAE had agreed to temporarily host the Afghan refugees in makeshift refugee housing.

According to a UAE official, the country had hosted more than 17,000 refugees, around 87% of whom were successfully resettled.

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But the HRW says the remaining thousands did not qualify and were living in "arbitrary detention." The rights group further added that Emirati authorities are not following the international and United Nations guidelines for immigrants and refugees.

They have been "locked up for over 15 months in cramped, miserable conditions with no hope of progress on their cases", stated Joey Shea, an HRW researcher in UAE.

'Camp is exactly like a prison'

Several of the residents of the Emirates Humanitarian City are suffering from mental health issues, the HRW report said.

The Afghan refugees also do not have access to move freely or to legal counsel. They are under constant surveillance and have limited educational services for their children.

The inhabitants of the facility are also facing issues of "overcrowding, decay of infrastructure, and insect infestations", the rights group stated.

A refugee told HRW that:  "The camp is exactly like a prison."

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What do the governments have to say?

HRW allegations of crippling conditions in the camp were dismissed by a UAE official, who refused to reveal his identity. He told AFP that "high-quality housing, sanitation, health, clinical, counseling, education, and food services" were being provided to the refugees.

He further said that UAE was still working with the US embassy to relocate the refugees "in a timely manner."

"We understand that there are frustrations and this has taken longer than intended to complete," he added.

The US authorities responsible for the resettlement of Afghans told HRW that they have an "enduring" commitment to relocate Afghans, including the residents of the Emirate Humanitarian City.