Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of arbitrarily detaining for more than 15 months as many as 2.700 evacuees from Afghanistan who did not qualify for resettlement.
Many Afghans in the International Humanitarian City suffer from depression and other mental illnesses, do not have access to legal advice or adequate educational services for their children, according to the HRW report.
"Living conditions have also deteriorated significantly, with detainees describing overcrowding and deteriorating infrastructure," the report on the Abu Dhabi detention facility said.
UAE officials continue to work with the United States (US) and other international partners to resettle the remaining evacuees in a timely manner in accordance with the original agreement, Reuters reports.
They did not comment on the allegations that the Afghans were detained.
"We understand that there are frustrations and that this has taken longer than planned to be completed," they added.
They said that the country is committed to ensuring the evacuation of Afghans, their safety and dignity, and that the evacuees receive high-quality housing, sanitation, health, counseling, education and nutrition services.
HRW said it had not received responses to requests for comment from the UAE's interior and foreign ministries.
The US State Department's Office of Afghan Resettlement said the US commitment to resettle those eligible, including those in the International Humanitarian City, is "ongoing", according to the report.
Private evacuation groups and the Emirati military brought thousands of Afghans to the UAE during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended the 20-year war. Several private groups continued to charter evacuation flights after leaving the US.
Evacuees were housed in the International Humanitarian City - an apartment complex converted into refugee housing - and many were eventually approved for resettlement in the US, Canada and other countries.
Between 2.500 and 2.700 Afghans, however, did not meet the requirements for relocation and have remained in what the HRW report called "arbitrary detention" since January.
UAE officials said the Gulf country hosted more than 17.000 evacuated migrants after the Taliban seized Kabul in August 2021 and resettled about 87 percent of them.
"Emirati authorities have kept thousands of Afghan asylum seekers locked up for more than 15 months in cramped, miserable conditions without hope," said Joey Shea, HRW's UAE researcher.
Sixteen Afghans interviewed by Human Rights Watch late last year said they were unable to leave the site freely, with guards following them closely during visits to the hospital and during the only visit they were allowed to make to the mall.
The report said the Emirati authorities are not complying with international law and UN guidelines for the treatment of asylum seekers and migrants, making their detention "arbitrary".
The UAE is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees.
The organization called on the US State Department to use its power to influence the release of Afghans and expedite all asylum applications.
The US has resettled more than 88.000 Afghans evacuated during and after the withdrawal of US troops. Thousands who worked for the US government, however, remain in Afghanistan awaiting the processing of their special immigrant visa applications.
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