Afghans who were recently deported from Iran have spoken out about experiencing extreme hardship and and mistreatment.
Afghanistan’s citizens say they faced threats to reach Iran but were deported after weeks.
Khaled and his sister Fatima and the rest of their family were forced to come to Afghanistan by Iranian forces. They illegally went to Iran through Nimroz.
“We were compelled to go to Iran, here there no working opportunities. Everyone knows that illegal trips come with problems. There, you can find difficult work with low incomes,” said Khalid.
“When they arrested us, we were faced with immoral and hideous threats. Some of them are good people, but many them think Afghans are not human,” said Fatima.
Unemployment and poverty are main reasons behind the illegal travel of Afghan citizens to neighboring countries, particularly to Iran. “Singles or married, everyone who is going to Iran is leaving due to poverty. They arrested us and treated us with cruelty,” said Baridad, a deportee.
Local officials in Nimroz province said they shared the accusations of mistreatment with the Islamic Emirate high officials in order to address the issue through diplomacy.
“Some Afghans, mainly singles, complained about the treatment of Iranian forces across the border. They claimed mistreatment and torture by Iranian forces,” said Mohammad Reza Khalili, a border official.
“There are problems in the ways against refugees. They sometimes expel them from Iran,” said Mallawi Sediqullah Nusrat, head of the Refugees and Repatriations Directorate of Nimroz.
Hundreds of Afghans daily head to Iran to seek work opportunities, but Iranian officials deport those who illegally arrive.
