Refusing visas and refuge consigns more Afghan journalists to Taliban trap

Since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed censorshipand obstructed the work of the media and journalists, especially women journalists. Twelve media outletswere shut down in 2024 alone. In all, more than 165media professionals have been arrested. Some have been tortured and others have been threatened. At least four media professionals and associates were arrested and heldon 22 and 23 July.

A journalist in his 30s who is news coordinator for a Kabul-based TV news channel recently told RSF what working under the Taliban is like. RSF is not naming him for security reasons. He said that, while out reporting, he has repeatedly been subjected to intimidation by heavily armed Taliban and threatened with reprisals against both him and his family.

What this journalist would like to achieve - "report what the public thinks and promote justice" in an "independent and professional" manner - has become increasingly difficult, he says. He even saw one of his colleagues dismissed on the orders of the authorities for not covering an official Taliban meeting.

With the restrictions and risks growing after each new government statement targeting the media, he is considering fleeing abroad. For the time being, he has moved his family to what he hopes is a safe place and is living alone in Kabul. "My financial means would only allow me to flee to Pakistan," he said, aware of the very harsh reality facing Afghan journalists who flee the country.

Governments endanger Afghan exile journalists by refusing visas or expelling them

Afghan exile journalists face both visa refusals from the countries where they would like to seek asylum, and difficulty renewing residence permits in transit countries that can result in deportation back to Afghanistan.

This is particularly the case in Pakistan, due above allto a reduction in visa duration and an increase in their cost. Thirteen of the 80 Afghan journalists assisted by RSF in Pakistan since the beginning of 2025 have been deported to Afghanistan during this period, although visa applications for third countries were being processed.

Meanwhile, RSF's assistance desk saw an increase in July in the number of refusals by the French authorities to issue visas to Afghan journalists who have fled to Pakistan, although France is one of their few exile options.

One of the journalists assisted by RSF described his deportation from Pakistan to Afghanistan. On 31 March, during the evening celebrations marking the end of Ramadan, Pakistani police officers burst into his home at 1 a.m. "They took our clothes, our documents, everything, and physically assaulted me, my wife, and my children. After beating us, the police threw us into a vehicle," he told RSF.

Back in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, this journalist risks being subjected to further violence, as highlighted in a UN report entitled No Safe Haventhat was published at the end of July. It identifies deported media professionals as one of the "population groups at particular risk of reprisals and human rights violations by the de facto authorities."

The UN estimatesthat 3 million Afghan nationals will be forced to return in 2025, above all from Pakistan and Iran, the leading host country for these refugees. It is feared that around 100 journalistscould end up being among those forced to return from Pakistan alone, and thereby driven back into the Taliban trap.

Since 2021, RSF has assisted a total of 654 Afghan journalists, 86% of whom have fled abroad. Thanks to RSF's support, 169 of them have now resettled in France, where some continue their journalistic work, including through projects such as Voices in Exile.

Testimony from journalist Anoosha Ansari, who was forced to flee nine months after the fall of Kabul: