The UN on Friday criticised a plan by Germany to deport criminals to Afghanistan, a day after the interior minister said he would seek direct contact with the Taliban over the issue.
Germany stopped deportations following the Taliban's return to power in 2021 but the rise of far-right and anti-immigrant politicians has seen the topic rise up the agenda.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Thursday he envisaged Germany "making agreements directly with Afghanistan to enable deportations".
Berlin currently has only indirect contact with the Taliban through third parties, an arrangement Dobrindt said "cannot remain a permanent solution".
But Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the United Nations' human rights office (OHCHR), told reporters in Geneva it was "not appropriate to return people to Afghanistan".
"We have been documenting continuing human rights violations in Afghanistan," she said, including denial of women's rights and executions.
Arafat Jamal of the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) in Kabul said his organisation was seeking funding to protect 1.4 million Afghans who had returned since the start of the year - most of them from Iran.
He said forcing Afghans to return risked causing further instability across the region and stressed that the UNHCR still has a "non-return advisory" in force for Afghanistan.
"In other words... the conditions on the ground are not yet ready for returns," he said.
"We urge countries not to forcibly return (people) to Afghanistan."
Twenty-eight Afghan nationals who had been convicted of crimes were deported in August last year after Germany's previous government carried out indirect negotiations with the Taliban.
No further deportations have taken place. But a debate over resuming expulsions has flared as migration becomes a key issue amid the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Germany's new government, a coalition between the conservative CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), has promised to expel more foreign criminals alongside a crackdown on irregular migration.
Dobrindt also said he was in contact with authorities to enable deportations to Syria, which have been suspended since 2012.
The debate in Germany comes amid rising anti-migrant sentiment in Europe, with Austria deporting a Syrian out of the country following a conviction.
In the Netherlands a pair of bills cracking down on asylum-seekers wishing to settle in the country passed in the Dutch parliament after wrangling and soul-searching by some lawmakers who feared the law would criminalize offering compassionate help to undocumented migrants.
The legislation cuts temporary asylum residency from five to three years, indefinitely suspends the issuance of new asylum residency permits and reins in family reunions for people who have been granted asylum.
It passed in the lower house late Thursday evening but could still be rejected in the upper house.
The Dutch Red Cross has estimated 23,000 to 58,000 people live in the Netherlands without an official right to residence.
The opposition Christian Democrats withdrew their support for the legislation put to the vote Thursday over a late amendment that would criminalize people living in the Netherlands without a valid visa or asylum ruling - and would also criminalize people and organizations that help such undocumented migrants.
The amendment was introduced by a member of anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom and passed narrowly because a small number of opposition lawmakers were not present for the vote.
The vote took place in the final session of parliament before lawmakers broke for the summer. The upper house will consider the legislation after it returns from the recess. If Christian Democrats in the upper chamber reject it, the legislation will be returned to the lower house.