Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a stark warning on Tuesday, highlighting that the forced returns of Afghans are exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Four years after the Taliban's takeover, HRW's latest report underscores a significant increase in human rights violations under the regime’s stringent policies.

Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher at HRW focusing on Afghanistan, marked the four-year anniversary of Taliban rule as a "grim reminder" of the escalating human rights abuses in the country. The Taliban have imposed severe restrictions, notably barring girls from education beyond the sixth grade and women from universities and most forms of employment. A particularly harsh "Law on Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice" has been criticized for severely restricting women’s freedom, including prohibitions on speaking publicly and showing their faces uncovered.

The International Criminal Court has recently issued arrest warrants for top Taliban leaders, including the supreme leader and the chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, focusing on crimes against humanity, particularly the persecution of women. These global legal actions highlight the severity of the situation, yet the ground realities remain grim.

HRW’s report also sheds light on the plight of millions of Afghans forcibly returned from neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan, as well as from the United States due to policies implemented by the previous administration. These returnees, many of whom have lived abroad for decades, find themselves facing severe repression under the Taliban regime. A recent UN report corroborated these findings, pointing out the human rights violations faced by these involuntary returnees.

The humanitarian situation is further strained by internal displacement, with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre citing that 4.2 million people remain displaced within Afghanistan. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs notes that nearly 23 million Afghans require urgent humanitarian assistance to survive, a situation worsened by the loss of foreign aid which has led to escalated malnutrition among children.

HRW criticizes the international community's inadequate response to the crisis, arguing that for four years, UN member countries have failed to take effective action against the rights violations in Afghanistan. The organization calls for a halt to forced returns and for a concerted international effort to address human rights abuses and alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

The situation in Afghanistan remains precarious, and HRW’s report is a crucial call to action for the international community to rethink strategies and intensify efforts to help the millions affected by the ongoing conflict and governance issues in the country.