Lodging places for travelers in the western province of Herat are overwhelmed with hundreds of Afghans who are seeking to illegally cross the border into neighboring Iran.
People interviewed by TOLOnews are crossing from Nimroz province, which borders Iran. Abdul Aziz is a resident of Faryab who came to Herat to find a human trafficker.
“I must go. If there was no need, I would never have wanted to,” he said.There are many children among the passengers. Some of these people are going to Pakistan and from there to Iran.
“Our business is better now than before because the people are coming from other provinces to go to Iran. Only 30 percent of them have visas and the other 70 percent is using illegal ways,” said Ferozuddin, an owner of an inn.
There are also many educated people among the passengers who became jobless after the fall of the former government.
“Our youth should have some patience to consider the situation. We understand that there are some problems but they should overcome them and not seek illegal ways to other countries,” said Naeemulhaq Haqqani, head of the provincial department of Information and Culture.
As Afghanistan struggles with a deteriorated economy, thousands of youth are seeking to leave the country in a bid to find jobs and make ends meet.
Meanwhile, local officials in Herat and Nimroz provinces say that more than 3,000 people go to Iran every day because of unemployment in Afghanistan.
According to the officials, these numbers are of people who legally go to Iran from Herat and Nimroz to work, it does not include those crossing illegally.
“Those who go to Iran legally are about 2,000 to 2,500 people a day, and those who come to Afghanistan from Iran are about 1,000,” said Homayoun Hemmat, deputy commissioner of Islam Qala border.
“Legally we have had 500 to 1,000 people on this bridge on Wednesday,” said Mohammad Hashem Hanzala, the Nimroz border commissioner.
Meanwhile, Afghans going to Iran say they face severe economic problems and have been forced to leave the country due to unemployment.
“I don’t have a job and it has been several months that we are unemployed, we are going to Iran,” said Farhad Sultani, a resident of Herat.
“There is no work here in Afghanistan, the weather is cold, we are going to Tehran to find work,” said Sultan Mir, a resident of Faryab.
With the increase in the number of Afghan citizens traveling to Iran, the process of deportation of Afghan refugees from the country has also increased, so that more than two thousand Afghans from Iran cross at the Islam Qala border area in Herat each day, officials say.
“The Islamic Emirate should address the people’s problems and their wishes and create an inclusive government, they should provide job opportunities so that the people can be saved from this misery,” said Lutfullah, a resident of Ghazni.
According to statistics, in addition to the legal travel of Afghan to Iran, more than 3,000 people are smuggled daily through Nimroz province, first to Pakistan and then to Iran.
These asylum seekers reach Iran with great difficulty and threats, but most of them are detained along the way and return to Afghanistan.
