An urgent protest rally held in Paris warned that Afghan journalists are facing a life-threatening crisis marked by persecution, prolonged asylum uncertainty, and growing risks of forced return.
The demonstration was organized by the Afghanistan Media Support Organization (AMSO), which said delays and silence by host governments and international bodies are placing journalists’ lives in immediate danger.
AMSO said dozens of Afghan journalists and media workers remain stranded abroad with asylum cases rejected or left unresolved long after interviews, while others are still awaiting interview invitations.
The organization warned that the uncertainty has triggered severe economic hardship, psychological pressure, and acute safety risks for journalists and their families.
“Silence means death for Afghanistan journalists, and any delay leads to irreparable human consequences,” AMSO said in a statement issued during the rally.
International reports document systematic repression
The Paris rally drew on a growing body of international reporting that documents a systematic dismantling of media freedom in Afghanistan.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 336 cases of violations against media professionals between August 2021 and September 2024, including 256 arbitrary arrests and 130 cases of torture or ill-treatment.
UNAMA has warned that unclear and shifting rules are being used to intimidate journalists and criminalize reporting.
In its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Afghanistan 175th out of 180 countries, describing a collapse of independent journalism and the replacement of reporting with state-approved content.
RSF also noted enforcement of restrictions that have forced many television stations to shut down or shift to radio-only formats.
Women erased, media outlets shut
Data from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) shows the number of women journalists has fallen by 74 percent, from 2,833 before 2021 to 747 in 2025, while more than half of all media outlets have closed.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) reported 140 violations in the first half of 2025 alone, a 56 percent increase year on year, and confirmed multiple detentions in high-security facilities on charges linked to “propaganda”.
AMSO said journalists forcibly returned to Kabul face persecution, arrest, sexual violence, and other grave abuses, endangering entire families.
Around 150 journalists are currently awaiting humanitarian visas, which AMSO described as a critical lifeline.
“What we are witnessing is the systematic dismantling of a free press,” said UNAMA head Roza Otunbayeva. “Protecting journalists is not a choice, but a necessity.”
