Nour Tahiri (whose name has been changed), an Afghan national, is currently being held at Emirates Humanitarian City (EHC) along with their spouse and children.  After the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, the Taliban made multiple threats against Tahiri and their family and searched their home several times. Tahiri’s partner apparently received conditional approval for advanced humanitarian parole to enter the US in August 2021, but the family could not escape before the US withdrawal due to the suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA).

In Fall 2021, a US private entity evacuated the family from Afghanistan to the UAE, assuring them of a short two-week stay in Abu Dhabi before travelling to the United States. However, upon arrival, they were taken to EHC, where they have been detained since.

The family’s living conditions have been substandard. Medical care provided at the EHC clinic is reportedly inadequate, lacking specialised services and proper diagnostics. Detainees are often denied complete medical records as well as off-site medical care. Tahiri, suffering from various health issues, has not received proper medical treatment.

Access to EHC is restricted. Surveillance is constant, with guards at every building monitoring detainees’ movements and gatherings. Despite attempts to seek information and updates on their case, Tahiri and their family’s hopes of resettlement in the US have been met with uncertainty and a lack of transparency.

In February 2022, Tahiri was told by USCIS officials that they and their family fall under the Priority 1 (P1) category of the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) system. Shortly after, Tahiri and their family are interviewed by IOM, which carries out processing functions typically reserved for a  Resettlement Support Center (RSC) funded and managed by the Department of State.[1] During this interview, an IOM officer appears to help the Tahiri family “with completing Form I-590, Registration for Classification as Refugee,” which “is the primary document in all refugee case files and […] is the application form by which a person seeks refugee classification and resettlement in the United States.”[2] However, IOM does not inform the Tahiri family that they have the right to legal counsel during the interview, nor does IOM issue any receipts or written notice of the submission of the Form I-590.

Believing that the detention of Tahiri and their family is arbitrary, MENA Rights Group requested the intervention of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on August 18, 2023 (UN WGAD).

On November 11, 2024, the UN WGAD adopts Opinion No. 68/2024 in which it found that the UAE and the United States bear joint responsibility for the arbitrary detention of Nour Tahiri. The UN WGAD first determined that the Emirates Humanitarian City constitutes a de facto place of detention, as residents were prohibited from leaving, subjected to constant surveillance, and had no freedom of movement or meaningful access to the outside world. It further found that the detention lacked any legal basis, solely for exercising the right to seek asylum, and that there was no access to judicial review  — in violation of articles 3, 8, 9, 13 and 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It called on both governments to provide compensation and reparations and urged the UAE to accede to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Refugee Convention.