The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), said that over 50,000 Afghan refugees have been deported from Iran in the past month.
According to ministry officials, the acting Afghan minister and the Iranian ambassador, Bahadur Aminian, discussed the situation of Afghan refugees on Thursday.
“The Minister of Refugee Affairs from Afghanistan was present at this meeting, and it was stressed that the neighboring countries, especially Iran, should help in creating job opportunities for those Afghans returning to Afghanistan,” said Basit Ansari, an official of the MoRR.
Meanwhile, some advocates for the rights of migrants are concerned by the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, particularly their deportation.
“The process of forced deportations has started again with the completion of the census plan of undocumented immigrants in Iran, which has caused immigrants to face numerous difficulties,” said Asifa, an activist for refugees’ rights in Iran.
Iran’s Ambassador to Kabul, Bahadur Aminian, said that around 3,000 Afghans per day are entering Iran illegally and the same amount are traveling to Iran with visas and legal documents.
According to Aminian, most of those who go to Iran through illegal means face the risks of human trafficking and a lack of services. But residents said that they leave the country and travel to Iran as a result of economic difficulties.
Badakhshan resident Mir Ali said that he has performed hard labor in Iran for almost 20 years and has been deported numerous times.
“We stayed there for five years, then we came back to Afghanistan; there are no jobs here. I may cross the border or not,” Mir Ali said.
“I went to Iran three times, I have been deported once, I am leaving the country due to economic challenges,” said Dar Mohammad.
