Amnesty International has urged the United Kingdom to stop rejecting asylum claims by Afghan women and review previous refusals, warning that women and girls continue to face severe restrictions and rights violations in Afghanistan five years after the Taliban returned to power.
Amnesty International UK said on Friday, August 14, 2026, that the Taliban’s policies over the past five years have severely restricted women’s and girls’ access to education, employment and public life, while also limiting freedom of expression.
Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International UK’s director of policy and research, criticized the declining rate of asylum approvals for Afghan nationals in Britain, arguing that women fleeing Afghanistan need protection at a time when their rights remain under sustained pressure.
“The government has an opportunity to reverse this shameful trend and provide the security that Afghan women and girls fleeing Taliban violence desperately need,” McAuliffe said in the statement.
Amnesty said Britain should review rejected cases and ensure that Afghan women seeking protection are assessed in light of the conditions they could face if returned to Afghanistan.
The organization also accused the British government of undermining its stated commitment to women’s rights by restricting protection for Afghan women while Taliban authorities continue to impose sweeping restrictions on women and girls.
The criticism comes as Afghanistan enters a fifth year under Taliban rule, with the humanitarian situation remaining severe and restrictions on women affecting access to education, employment, health services, humanitarian assistance and public life.
The United Nations and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned that Afghanistan continues to face major humanitarian needs, with millions of people relying on humanitarian assistance. At the same time, restrictions on women humanitarian workers have complicated the delivery of aid and reduced the ability of relief organizations to reach vulnerable communities.
Amnesty said the combination of rights restrictions and changes in asylum policy has left some Afghan women facing the prospect of having their protection claims rejected despite the conditions in Afghanistan.
Amnesty called on British authorities to ensure that decisions involving Afghan women are consistent with the risks they may face and with the UK’s obligations to protect people from persecution and serious human rights violations.
Five years after the Taliban takeover, the organization said, the continuing restrictions on women and girls remain a central human rights and humanitarian concern and require governments offering protection to reassess how their asylum policies affect those fleeing Afghanistan.
