Deportations Spike of Afghan Migrants from Iran

According to statistics from local Herat officials, nearly 100,000 Afghan migrants have returned to the country through the Islam Qala border crossing in the past three days.

Adam Khan Saad, the head of the Herat department for migrants and returnees, said: “Last night we relocated 30,000 people, and the new facility we’ve built can accommodate between 20,000 to 25,000 people. We have the capacity to relocate between 50,000 to 55,000 individuals.”

Abdullah, who was recently deported from Iran with his family of five, said he had lived in Iran for five years and was arrested and deported by Iranian police after his residency permit expired.

Abdullah, deported from Iran, stated: “We ask the Islamic Emirate to provide us with job opportunities so our wives and children can have a future and not remain without one.”

Many of these Afghan migrants have been forcibly deported from Iran.

They are urging the interim government to create job opportunities for them within the country.

Mohammad Nader, deported from Iran, said: “They gave us a census paper and said it was valid until the 15th of Saratan, but on the 1st of Saratan, security forces came and evicted us from our home and did not allow us to take any belongings. Everything we had was taken from us until we reached our own soil.”

Shamsuddin, another deportee from Iran, said: “They evicted me and my family and took my money. All the money I had was taken. I have nothing with me now, not even the fare for transportation. What can I do?”

Meanwhile, Alireza Bikdeli, Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan, along with a delegation, has traveled to the Islam Qala border in Herat to assess the issues facing Afghan migrants.

The Iranian ambassador has pledged that steps will be taken to resolve the problems of returning migrants and to address their complaints.