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Amnesty: Europe returning more Afghans despite violence

FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 file photo, Afghans who were deported from Germany exit Kabul International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan. Amnesty International says in the report released Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 that European governments have remained willfully blind to the dangers to which returnees are exposed. It says together with the European Union they are putting Afghanistan under tremendous pressure to accept large numbers of the returnees. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File) FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016 file photo, Afghans who were deported from Germany exit Kabul International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan. Amnesty International says in the report released Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 that European governments have remained willfully blind to the dangers to which returnees are exposed. It says together with the European Union they are putting Afghanistan under tremendous pressure to accept large numbers of the returnees. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

By Associated Press October 4, 2017 1 min read

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An international rights group says European countries are returning many more Afghan asylum seekers to their homeland even as violence in the war-torn country escalates.

Amnesty International said in its report Thursday that European governments remain willfully blind to the country’s dangers and that Europe and the European Union are putting Afghanistan under tremendous pressure to accept large numbers of returnees.

The report cites EU statistics in saying from 2015 to 2016 the number of Afghans sent home from Europe nearly tripled from 3,290 to 9,460.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan counted 11,418 civilians killed or injured last year.