The Canadian Border Service announced that it had repatriated 19 Afghan asylum seekers, whose applications were rejected, to Afghanistan in 2023.

The group said that they returned to Afghanistan "voluntarily" and that none of them were motivated by security concerns.

The organisation declined to provide further details due to "privacy issues”.

The deportations came despite a suspension order. The temporary suspension of the return of asylum seekers means stopping the forced deportation of asylum seekers to countries in crisis situations such as war or humanitarian catastrophe. This order allows asylum seekers to stay in the host country until conditions improve.

For Afghans, the order has been in place since 1994, and only those who have committed crimes are exempt.

Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, has called on Canada to grant refugee status to all Afghan women seeking asylum in the country. He stressed that the conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are "very dangerous" and that they are severely repressed under the Taliban's rule.

The deportations have caused concern among some immigration experts who believe that Afghans have not returned voluntarily and have been forced to leave Canada under economic or social pressures.