In a message on Eid on Friday, former President Ashraf Ghani warned that Afghan migrants are being used as instruments of political pressure, expressing alarm over what he described as a worsening crisis facing displaced Afghans across the globe.
In a message marking Eid al-Adha, Ghani said the wave of deportations planned by Western governments is “painful and troubling,” and reflects a shift in how Afghan migrants are perceived and treated.
“Afghan refugees have gone from being a population used for utility to one used for pressure,” he said in the statement. “This shift is not only dehumanizing — it is a source of profound psychological and emotional distress.”
Ghani, who fled Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, as the Taliban seized control of Kabul, said many Afghans abroad now face precarious legal and humanitarian conditions, while those at home remain trapped by drought, unemployment and political uncertainty.
“The Afghan migrant is no longer simply a tool — they have become a tool of pressure,” he said.
He called on Afghans to unify in the face of continued displacement and national fragmentation. “Our connection to this land, to a region with which we share thousands of years of history, is not a choice — it is an obligation,” he said.
Invoking Afghanistan’s turbulent past and its long struggle for statehood, Ghani urged citizens to work toward rebuilding the country through what he described as “collective wisdom.” He expressed hope that Afghans could mark the 300th anniversary of the country’s founding in 2047 in a “unified and prosperous” nation.
The statement comes amid growing international criticism of recent deportation policies in the United States, Europe and other regions, where authorities have begun returning Afghan asylum seekers despite ongoing humanitarian concerns. Human rights groups warn the expulsions place vulnerable individuals at grave risk.
