Afghanistan Peace CampaignSome returning migrants from Iran say they were compelled to return due to the pressures imposed by the Iranian authorities.
Local officials in Herat say that in recent weeks, the rate of deportation and return of Afghan migrants from Iran has increased by 50%.
According to the Directorate of Migrant Affairs at Islam Qala Border Crossing in Herat, more than 5,000 migrants are entering Afghanistan daily through this border.
Abdullah Qayoumi, head of the Migrant Affairs Directorate at Islam Qala, stated: “Various sanctions imposed by the Iranian government on our migrants have forced Afghan migrants to return to their homeland and continue their normal lives there.”
Some returning migrants from Iran say they were compelled to return due to the pressures imposed by the Iranian authorities.
Kabir Ahmad Mohammadi, one of the returnees from Iran, said: “We were forced to come back. Half of our house rent was left unpaid there. Along the way, they took 30 million tomans from us, and we were compelled to return from Iran.”
Other Afghans who have been expelled from Iran have complained about mistreatment by the Iranian authorities. They claim that the police and some government agencies have been extorting money from them under various pretexts.
Changiz Rahimi, another deportee from Iran, said: “Along the way, we are harassed a lot and a significant amount of money is taken from us. The municipality collects money on one side, and the drivers take 50,000 tomans from each passenger. In each vehicle, about four to five million tomans are collected and handed over to the drivers. Despite complaining to various authorities, no one helped us.”
Homayoun Roufi, another deportee from Iran, said: “We were given exit papers and told to return to our country, and it was said that there might not be any problems in the camps. But from the moment we left, I kept a list showing that they took 1.5 million tomans for vehicle rent and card fees, and the municipality charged another one million tomans. Even the drivers replaced the tires on their vehicles and made the deportees pay for it.”
In addition to the return of families to the country, hundreds of young Afghan laborers are being arrested and deported by Iranian police daily.
According to some of the deportees, the Iranian government has expelled their children from schools and given them less than three months to leave the country.