Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Iran’s chief of police, Ahmadreza Radan, announced that the country’s police are determined to deport two million “illegal” Afghan migrants by the end of this year.
Radan made the statement on Sunday, October 13, during a ceremony in Mashhad, stating that arrests of “illegal” Afghan migrants in Iran have increased.
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Radan added that since the announcement of the deportation plan, both the number of voluntary surrenders and the arrests of undocumented foreign nationals have risen.
He had previously mentioned that the Islamic Republic aims to expel around two million “illegal foreign nationals” from Iran by the end of the current year.
The Iranian government has intensified its pressure on Afghan migrants, imposing strict limitations on their work and activities in most major cities.
Iran’s interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, urged Afghan migrants living in Iran to “return to their country and work to rebuild it.”
However, due to the dire conditions in Afghanistan, including increased poverty and unemployment following the Taliban’s return to power, many Afghans are fleeing their homeland for Iran and other neighboring countries.
Amid this humanitarian crisis, the forced deportation of Afghan refugees adds to their plight. Struggling with extreme poverty and lacking opportunities, Afghan migrants are caught between the challenges of living as refugees in hostile environments and the bleak prospects of returning to a war-torn and impoverished homeland.