The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a statement Aug. 14 condemning the idea that the Taliban are "reformed" since the last time they were in power in Afghanistan. The statement, written by multiple human rights experts, drew attention to the gap between the promises made by the Taliban upon its return to power in August 2021 and the reality of "gender apartheid" in Afghanistan.

Roza Otunbayeva, the UN's special representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council on June 21 that the Taliban's continued restrictions on women made it "nearly impossible" for the international community to recognize it as a legitimate government. In particular, Otunbayeva referred to an April edict banning Afghan women from working with the UN—a follow-up to an earlier ban on them working for local or international NGOs. However, the Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban prefers to be known, continues to push for international recognition, most recently at a meeting of stakeholders in Oslo.

A group of Afghan women on April 29 marched in the capital Kabul to urge the United Nations not to formally recognize the Taliban government. Approximately two dozen women took to the streets despite the Taliban government's increasingly strict crackdowns on women. During the march, protesters chanted that they would fight and die for their dignity and condemned the UN, stating that the pending recognition of the Taliban would be a violation of women's rights.

Despite worsening economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the Pakistani government is intensifying its crackdown on Afghan refugees, adding new movement restrictions on top of a wave of detentions and deportations. On March 18, some 330 Afghans were returned from Pakistan, including 70 who had been imprisoned for lacking documentation—just the latest to be sent home as Islamabad doubles down on its hardline approach.

More than 271,000 Ukrainians have been admitted to the United States since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year–far exceeding the goal of 100,000 set by President Joe Biden's administration last March. More than 117,000 entered through a private sponsorship program that allows US citizens to financially support Ukrainians to come to the country and stay for up to two years. Other Ukrainians crossed the US-Mexico border before the private sponsorship initiative was launched, or entered the United States through the official refugee resettlement program.

Afghanistan's Taliban regime has agreed to sign a contract with a Chinese company to exploit oil in the Amu Darya basin in the country's north, the acting mining minister announced Jan. 5. The contract with the Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum & Gas Co. (CAPEIC) is to be the first major resource extraction deal the regime has signed with a foreign company since taking power in 2021. "The Amu Darya oil contract is an important project between China and Afghanistan," China's ambassador, Wang Yu, told a joint press conference with Taliban officials in Kabul. Beijing has not formally recognized the Taliban government but has significant interests in Afghanistan, a country deemed critical for its Belt & Road Initiative.

Several international aid organizations have suspended their work in Afghanistan in response to a new Taliban edict barring Afghan women from working with any local or foreign NGO until further notice, while the UN is urging the "Islamic Emirate" to reverse its decision. The Afghan Ministry of Economy issued the order on Dec. 24, warning that any organization that fails to comply will have their licence to operate in the nation revoked.

Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Oct. 31 authorized prosecutors to resume their investigation into atrocities committed in Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, following a two-year hiatus. The Chamber found "that Afghanistan is not presently carrying out genuine investigations." The Chamber emphasized that the authorization is limited to crimes falling within the conflict as it existed at the time of the original investigation request in November 2017. The Chamber rejected that request in April 2019. This decision was overturned by the Appeals Chamber in March 2020. However, the investigation was halted following a request from the government of Afghanistan. ICC prosecutor Karim AA Khan sought to review the deferral in September 2021. At that time, Khan said he concluded, "there is no longer the prospect of genuine and effective domestic investigations into Article 5 crimes within Afghanistan."