Afghanistan Peace CampaignAccording to Nader Yar-Ahmadi, aside from six groups who may remain in Iran with temporary cards, all other migrants must leave by the deadline.
Iran’s Ministry of Interior has set a deadline of July 6 this year for Afghan migrants to leave the country.
The head of the National Organization for Migration of Iran’s Ministry of Interior, Nader Yar-Ahmadi, emphasized that all undocumented migrants must leave the country by the given deadline. He also stated that, following the invalidation of Afghan migrants’ census documents, the number of undocumented Afghans in Iran has reached over four million.
Pakistan has set June 30 as the last date for the departure of Afghan migrants holding ACC cards.
According to Nader Yar-Ahmadi, aside from six groups who may remain in Iran with temporary cards, all other migrants must leave by the deadline.
Nader Yar-Ahmadi said: “Two million individuals whose census documents were valid until March 20 last year are now also considered undocumented. This has brought the total number of undocumented migrants in Iran to 4.1 million. Except for the six groups allowed to stay temporarily, all other undocumented Afghans must leave by July 6.”
Enayat Alokozay, an Afghan migrant in Iran, told TOLOnews: “Migrants with census papers have been given until Saratan by the Iranian government to leave. Many of them have lived in Iran for years and have business and trade ties there. This deadline is too short for them.”
Hashem, one of thousands recently deported from Iran with his wife and son, appealed to the interim government: “I was in Iran for a while, but they expelled us. I ask the Islamic Emirate to provide us with shelter and some food.”
Migrant rights activists emphasize that such actions should not be unilateral but coordinated with the interim government to enable a gradual and dignified return.
Mohammad Jamal Muslim, a migrant rights activist, told TOLOnews: “People living in Pakistan, Iran, the US, and European countries were accepted based on host countries’ interests. Unfortunately, the short-term deadlines announced by the US, Pakistan, and Iran until July are not in anyone’s favor.”
The Islamic Emirate has repeatedly urged host countries not to carry out forced deportations of Afghan migrants.