Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, has described the deaths of a number of Afghan migrants in the deserts of Nimroz province while attempting to reach Iran as “horrific” and called for addressing the root causes of what he described as “desperate and dangerous” migration.

In a post on X on Saturday, Bennett expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and wrote: “Serious attention must be given to the root causes and conditions that force Afghans into such desperate and dangerous journeys.”

Afghanistan International reported on Friday that the bodies of 14 Afghan nationals were recovered in the Gard Lalow area of Chahar Burjak district, Nimroz province. They were part of a group of 19 Afghan citizens who had gone missing while attempting to travel to Iran through the desert.

The bodies of several other members of the group had been discovered earlier. Local sources and Taliban officials said the victims died from extreme heat, dehydration, and the harsh conditions of the desert.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also described the deaths of at least 19 Afghan nationals in the deserts of Nimroz as a “deep tragedy” and warned about the dangers associated with irregular migration.

Afghanistan’s worsening economic crisis, rising poverty and unemployment, restrictions imposed by the Taliban, and shrinking livelihood opportunities have fueled migration from the country in recent years.

At the same time, the lack of safe and legal migration pathways has forced many Afghans to rely on human smuggling networks and dangerous desert and border routes to reach neighboring countries and Europe—journeys that continue to claim lives every year.