GENEVA — UN human rights chief Volker Türk has accused Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban regime of deepening restrictions on women and girls and urged countries to renew pressure on Kabul to uphold its obligations under international law.

Türk said millions of Afghans were struggling with poverty, while basic human rights were deteriorating and hundreds of thousands of people were being forcibly returned to Afghanistan.

“Yet, it seems the world has forgotten and abandoned the people of Afghanistan to a plight deepening by the day. The silence is deafening,” Türk said in a statement.

He condemned restrictions imposed on women and girls affecting education, employment, freedom of movement and participation in public life, as well as stringent dress requirements. He also criticized the absence of women from public decision-making.

According to Türk, about 2.2 million Afghan girls and women have been denied secondary and higher education since 2021. He described the systematic exclusion of women and girls as a serious human rights violation and said restrictions amounted to “gender apartheid.”

The UN rights chief also raised concerns over new decrees that make it harder for women to separate from their spouses and that, he said, implicitly authorize child marriage and violence against women and children.

He said Taliban authorities had also continued arrests linked to dress codes, beard length and music. At least 449 men and women were subjected to corporal punishment during the first half of 2026, he said.

Türk further cited continuing violations against former government officials and security personnel, restrictions affecting religious minorities and growing censorship of Afghan media, including arrests of journalists and temporary closures of outlets.

The UN official also criticized the continuing forced return of Afghans from neighboring countries.

Citing UN refugee agency figures, he said more than 400,000 Afghans had been forcibly returned, mainly from Iran and Pakistan, with smaller numbers returned from Türkiye, Tajikistan and elsewhere.

Türk warned that some returnees were being sent to places where they had never lived and could face poverty and inadequate access to food, clean water, health care, education and employment.

The UN estimates that 21.9 million people, or about 45% of Afghanistan’s population, require humanitarian assistance, according to Türk.

He also warned that declining international aid was worsening conditions and appealed to governments to reconsider policies that could further harm vulnerable Afghans.

“I implore all States to reconsider their actions, and to put the lives of the suffering population first,” Türk said, urging countries with influence in the region to speak out for the equality and dignity of Afghans.