A million more Afghans could be sent back from Iran, Red Cross warns
GENEVA - The Red Cross said on Tuesday it is bracing for another 1 million people to be sent back from Iran to Afghanistan amid mass deportations that humanitarians say are placing a heavy strain on the aid system.
Over 1.2 million people have been returned to Afghanistan from Iran since the start of this year, according to data from the UN refugee agency, with the number of returns surging since Iran and Israel launched strikes on each other last month.
Sami Fakhouri, head of delegation for Afghanistan at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said he witnessed bus loads of people returning to a border crossing at the Islam Qala border in Herat province in recent days.
'(We) are anticipating that an additional one million people, possibly more, may return from Iran to Afghanistan by the end of this year,' he told reporters at a Geneva press briefing, voicing concern about their futures with many having left their home country years ago and were now homeless.
'The majority didn't have a say in coming back. They were put on buses and driven to the border,' he said.
Afghanistan is already battling a humanitarian crisis and aid groups worry that the new arrivals from Iran - on top of hundreds of thousands pressured to return from Pakistan - risks further destabilizing the country.
Fakhouri said the IFRC appeal for 25 million Swiss francs (US$31.40 million) to help returning Afghans at the border and in transit camps is only 10% funded, voicing concerns about whether it could maintain support for people.
Babar Baloch, a spokesperson at the UN refugee agency, said tens of thousands were arriving from Iran daily with over 50,000 crossing on July 4.
He also voiced concerns about family separations.
'The psychological scars are going to stay with Afghans who have been made to come back to the country in this way,' he said at the same press briefing.
Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Reuters
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