On this page, you will find:

To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Afghanistan LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Afghanistan Country of Information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Afghanistan COI page. 

Refugee protection

Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Afghanistan. 

The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Afghanistan is a signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.

In August 2005, Afghanistan became a state party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Afghanistan is not however a state party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Today, Afghanistan is experiencing a humanitarian emergency of enormous proportions. Multiple factors are affecting efforts to address this crisis, including recent bans on Afghan women from working in the humanitarian response, as well as in other walks of life. Additionally, climate change is impacting Afghanistan, food insecurity, and a devasted economy. Some 3.4 million people remain displaced in Afghanistan due to conflict in recent years. The resilience of people in Afghanistan is stretched, with internally displaced people among the most vulnerable.
 
Although Afghanistan has ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a national law on asylum developed prior to Taliban takeover in August 2021 has not been enacted. Until that happens, refugees and asylum-seekers face significant challenges due to the absence of a legal framework to safeguard their rights or ensure their access to basic services (source). 

Legal aid organisations

The Afghan Pro Bono Initiative is a project launched in March 2022 by Refugee Legal Support and Safe Passage International, in collaboration with 14 commercial law firms. The initiative provides essential legal support and information to people fleeing Afghanistan. Its main objectives are to help individuals apply to be reunited with their families in the UK and access the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), as well as to provide information on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
To refer a case to the Afghan Pro Bono Initiative, please send an email to cases@afghanprobono.org.uk with details of the case. For general inquiries about the project, you can contact Mariana at mariana@afghanprobono.org.uk. The initiative is funded by commercial law firms that provide both funding and pro bono capacity to support the project’s objectives.

Email: Melina.Garcin@rescue.org / Afghanistan.support@rescue.org

Launched in May 2022, the collaborative project offers pro bono legal support to Afghan refugees seeking resettlement in Europe following the Taliban insurgency. DBAF is a collaboration between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and 10 commercial law firms. Volunteer lawyers from across the firms are trained and supervised by expert lawyers at IRC to work on family reunification applications and other legal pathways to Germany for Afghan individuals and families.

Website
Email: fabi@cild.eu

The Collaborazione Italiana Pro Bono per I Rifugiati Afghani (CIPBRA) project, a collaboration between the NGO Coalizione Italiana per le Liberta e i diritti civili (CILD) and international law firms Orrick, Hogan Lovells, Dentons, and Linklaters, launched in March 2022. Expert lawyers at CILD provide training and supervision for volunteer lawyers from across these four firms to work on family reunification applications and other legal pathways to Italy for Afghan individuals and families.

Website
Facebook
Instagram
Legal Information Website – Legal information available in English, Spanish, Creole, Arabic, Pashto, Farsi (Dari). 

The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) provides free legal help to some refugees and displaced people. IRAP cannot grant refugee status or visas or speed up cases. IRAP cannot provide financial help, find or pay for housing, or find jobs. They do not make any decisions concerning resettlement and they are completely independent of UNHCR and national governments. Any information sent to IRAP is highly confidential, and all services are free of charge. IRAP provides free legal services to refugees seeking refugee protection and resettlement. 

IRAP can help some people in processes like: 

  • Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrant Visa applications. IRAP helps with some kinds of Chief of Mission appeals.
  • Family reunification for refugees with relatives in the United States and in some European countries. IRAP helps with some stages and some kinds of family reunification processes.
  • UNHCR processes. IRAP represents some refugees in certain UNHCR processes in certain countries. 
  • U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) applications. IRAP helps with some kinds of Requests for Review (RFRs) of USRAP denials.
  • Some other processes, like refugees in the U.S. applying for a refugee travel document.

How to contact IRAP

Anyone can request legal help through their chatbot on Facebook by clicking here or on Telegram by clicking here

This webform is for Afghan SIV applicants who want to file or have received denials from the Chief of Mission (COM) and who do not currently have an application or appeal pending review at COM to request legal help.

IRAP Jordan accepts requests for assistance through this form. The form is only available when IRAP Jordan is accepting new requests for assistance. If the form is not available, please check back to that link regularly.

IRAP is not able to assist everyone who contacts them, and emailing them or getting in touch does not create an attorney-client relationship.

In light of the recent situation in Afghanistan, IRAP created a Legal Resources page for Afghans in the US.

Afghans or Iraqis applying for Special Immigrant Visa programs. They assist Afghans and Iraqis with all stages of the SIV process, including locating former US supervisors and preparing application documents.

– Refugees in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Programme. They can help individuals gather documents and present their refugee claim prior to IOM or USCIS interviews. If they are denied, IRAP can review to see if they can assist with a Request for Review, including written counseling for individuals with security-related reasons (“Other”) denials.

– UNHCR Assistance. In very exceptional situations, they may be able to assist refugees (individuals who are not Afghan nationals) living in Afghanistan with refugee registration

Website

Address: ICON Compound, Supreme Road,Pule-e-Charkhi,Dispatury Police District 9, Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel: +41 22 739 7500
Email: afgka@unhcr.org
Working hours:
Monday: 7:45 – 16:15
Tuesday: 7:45 – 16:15
Wednesday: 7:45 – 16:15
Thursday: 7:45 – 16:15
Friday: closed
Saturday: closed
Sunday: 7:45 – 16:15


UNHCR’s work in Afghanistan focuses on protecting the most vulnerable and assisting newly displaced Afghans with life-saving shelter, food, water and core relief items, both within Afghanistan and neighbouring countries. Together with our partners, we are committed to staying on the ground and delivering our emergency response as long as we can access those in need.

Some of the key activities of UNHCR in Afghanistan include:

Providing emergency assistance: UNHCR responds to the immediate needs of newly displaced people, providing shelter, food, and basic relief items.

Supporting refugee returns: UNHCR assists Afghan refugees in returning to their homes and communities, providing them with support to rebuild their lives.

Protecting and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs): UNHCR supports the Afghan government in providing protection and assistance to IDPs, helping them to access basic services, such as healthcare and education.

Providing legal assistance: UNHCR provides legal assistance to refugees and IDPs, helping them to access their rights and assisting with documentation and registration.

Strengthening community resilience: UNHCR works with communities to build their resilience to conflict and displacement, supporting initiatives that promote peace and stability.

UNHCR non-return advisory for Afghanistan. In the wake of the rapid deterioration in the security and human rights situation in large parts of the country and the unfolding humanitarian emergency, UNHCR calls on States to halt forcible returns of Afghan nationals who have previously been determined not to be in need of international protection

Organisations providing other support to refugees

Website
Facebook
Email: azads11@yahoo.com / amaso.org@gmail.com
Contact persons: Abdul Ghafoor

Afghanistan Migrants Advice and Support Organization was established in February 2014 by Abdul Ghafoor, with the support of Dr. Liz Schuster. Since its creation, AMASO has been successfully providing advice to those recently forcibly returned (including families) from various European countries to Afghanistan. They have been able to provide advice to a large number of people face to face, and other groups of people through email, telephone or Skype appointments. AMASO has an office in Kabul where they can receive and advise visitors. The visitors include mainly returnee, and some potential migrants.

AMASO has also been monitoring the situation of the deportees post- return since its establishment and has been in contact with most of the deportees over several months/years, depending on the availability and interest of the deportees to stay in touch with AMASO. The deportees AMASO has been involved with in providing advice and support post return were deported from various European countries such as Norway, the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Finland, as well as Australia.

AMASO has been involved in assisting many international researchers, practitioners, and journalists who visited AMASO and have interviewed the director of AMASO to get his expert views on the situation of deportees, and the deportees themselves to document their stories and the challenges they have faced post return.

AMASO has also provided practical support to a very limited number of those deported. They have helped some of the returnees with learning the English language, and computer classes and have been providing shelter to a very limited number of vulnerable returnees. Due to their limited resources and funding, it is not possible to help all of those forcibly returned.

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Address: 5th District Afshar e Sillo, Qargha Road, Headquarter Office, Kabul
Tel: 93728900103
Email: int.relation.arcs@gmail.com

The Afghan Red Crescent Society provides humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable citizens of the entire nation while adhering to the values of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Foundations.

Website
Tel: Call free 410
Open seven days a week | Female and male agents available | Agents speak Dari, Pashto, Urdu, English, and more

Awaaz Afghanistan, a humanitarian helpline connecting Afghans (IDPs, returnees) and refugees affected by conflict and natural disaster with information on assistance. They are a toll-free, confidential hotline that anyone with access to a mobile phone in Afghanistan can call for free to access information on and register feedback about the humanitarian response.

Website
Location: Shahr-e-Naw Kabul, Kabul

IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all, with a presence in over 100 countries. IOM has had a presence in Afghanistan since 1992.

As the leading inter-governmental organization promoting humane and orderly migration, IOM plays a key role to support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through different areas of intervention that connect both humanitarian assistance and sustainable development. Across Afghanistan, IOM addresses capacity building in migration management, migration and development, migrant assistance and labour migration.

Website
Tel: +93728932045/+93700228509
Email: af-infonew@nrc.no

NRC Afghanistan seeks to protect and assist vulnerable women, girls, boys and men displaced by conflict and/or in hard-to-reach areas. NRC provides assistance to meet immediate humanitarian needs, prevent further displacement, and contribute to durable solutions. NRC maintains a presence in 15 provinces across the country with mobile teams accessing neighbouring areas. These provinces include Kabul (Country Office), Balkh, Faryab, Herat, Kabul, Nangarhar, Kunar, Kandahar, Khost, Sar-e-pul, Kunduz, Badghis, Laghman, Nimroz, Parwan, Zabul, and Uruzgan. NRC implements programming across all of NRC’s core competencies, integrating protection and advocacy, and an emergency response team to support preparedness and response.

Website
Facebook
Address: P.O. Box, Ministry of Information and Communication, Kabul Afghanistan 5661
Tel: +93 (0)7 97 33 44 99
Email: Tabish_organization@yahoo.com / aria_popal@hotmail.com


Tabish in Afghanistan is a non-governmental, non-political, humanitarian and not-for-profit organisation working in the field of psycho-social health, education and human rights. Tabish also specialises in capacity development, and its programmes and activities are in line with NGO rules and regulations.

Tabish has been established and registered with the Ministry of Economy (in 2009) Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Having ten years of experience in various fields (including health, education and social); Tabish with its International Experts and Qualified National Staff e.g. Psychosocial Counselors, Social Workers, Doctors, and Nurses as well as its Committed Experts on Programme and Project Management, provides different services in different divisions of Afghanistan. Since its inception in 2009, Tabish is fully engaged to provide better on-demand services to the needy people of Afghanistan through its community-based projects.

Tabish’s priority interventions and humanitarian services focus on the following groups: Disadvantaged Communities and Deprived People, Internal Displaced People (IDPs), People living in Post Disaster Camps (PDCs), Prisoners and Children and Adolescent living in Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers and Orphanage Houses as well as Homeless People, especially Drug Users throughout Afghanistan.

Tabish has been working as a partner with different international organisations in project implementation and research. Tabish also works directly with global refugee rights organisations, especially those concerning Afghan asylum seekers, and deportees back to Afghanistan.

Website
Email: info@warchild.org.uk

War Child has been in Afghanistan since 2002. It started their work in the city of Herat, in the western region; implementing food security and livelihoods projects with internally displaced families who had come from other provinces. In 2007, War Child Afghanistan expanded to the eastern and central region to cover three key areas: protection, education, and livelihoods – as well as broader issues like advocacy and gender discrimination.

  • Beporsed Ma Ra page provides accurate information from trusted sources for Afghans living inside or outside Afghanistan seeking legal options for resettlement or relocation to other countries. Their site is accessible in Pashto, Dari, and English.
  • Refugee Action’s Handbook: UK Immigration Options for Afghan Citizens – Google Docs is for Afghan nationals in the UK who need information on the available immigration options for themselves or for their family members in Afghanistan.
  • Refugee Action has also compiled the Asylum Guides briefings, including How a Lawyer Can Help, which explains what to expect from solicitors and legal advice
  • The Right to Remain toolkit is a step-by-step guide to the UK immigration and asylum system (available in Pashto and Dari, among other languages

Afghanistan LGBTQI+ Resources

Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan COI

Find Afghanistan Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents. 

We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.

Last updated January 2024