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MTV Lebanon
2 days ago
- Politics
- MTV Lebanon
30 Jun 2025 19:22 PM UN: More than 250,000 Afghans left Iran in June
More than 256,000 Afghans left Iran in June alone, marking a surge in returns to Afghanistan since Tehran set a hard deadline for repatriations, the UN's migration agency said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded as many as 28,000 Afghans leaving Iran in a single day in June, after the Iranian regime ordered all undocumented Afghans to leave the country by 6 July. The number of Afghan refugees in neighbouring Iran has swelled since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, many of whom live without legal status. This has contributed to growing anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran, with refugees facing systemic discrimination. The IOM said more than 700,000 Afghans had left Iran since January, with spokesperson Avand Azeez Agha telling news agency AFP that 70% had been "forcibly sent back". The surge in repatriations - and the deadline - have come since Iran and Israel engaged in direct conflict with one another, beginning with Israel attacking nuclear and military sites in mid-June. A ceasefire has since been brokered. As the two exchanged daily strikes, the Iranian regime arrested several Afghan migrants it suspected of spying for Israel, state media reported. Following these claims, a new wave of deportations began. The semi-official Iranian Mehr news agency reported that police had been directed to accelerate deportations, though the police later denied this. "We're scared to go anywhere because there's always the fear they might accuse us of being spies," one Afghan migrant in Iran, who we are not naming to protect their identity, told BBC Persian. "At the checkpoints, they do body searches and check people's phones. If they find any messages or videos from foreign media on social networks, it could literally put someone's life in danger. "Many Iranians insult us, saying things like: 'you Afghans are spies' or 'you work for Israel'." Numerous reports in Iranian media indicate that even Afghans with valid visas and documentation have been forcibly deported. Some Afghans who were detained and later freed said they were accused by officials of betraying the country. Arafat Jamal, the UN's refugee co-ordinator for Afghanistan, said that while there was now a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, "the consequences of that war continue". "This movement pre-dates the war, but it has been exacerbated by it," he told BBC Pashto. "And what we hear from the returnees is a series of actions that have caused them to come back, some of them quite coercive, others not as much." Afghan refugees are not eligible for Iranian citizenship, even if they are born in the country, while many are unable to open bank accounts, buy SIM cards or live in certain areas. Employment opportunities are also heavily restricted, and are often limited to hard labour with low wages. In this latest push to remove them, Iranian authorities have also urged the public to report undocumented Afghans. "There are oppressors here, and there are oppressors there," a second Afghan in Iran said. "We migrants have never been free, never lived a free life." Another said "the future for Afghans living in Iran looks really bleak", adding: "The police are violent and humiliating, and now even the Basij [volunteer militia] have been tasked with arresting Afghans." The surge in repatriations comes after Pakistan accelerated its own drive to expel undocumented Afghans, saying it could no longer manage hosting them. Mr Jamal said the number of refugees returning to Afghanistan from both Iran and Pakistan this year was in excess of one million. While he thanked both nations for taking in millions of Afghans over the past few decades of instability, he urged them to seek a joint solution to the crisis. The UN director said humanitarian provisions at the border had been "overwhelmed", adding: "There is simply too many people coming back." Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy prime minister in the Taliban government, said on Saturday that talks with Iranian officials were under way over the issue. The Taliban's transport minister also said it was accelerating efforts to transport refugees from the border to their homes.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
More than 250,000 Afghans left Iran in June alone, UN says
More than 256,000 Afghans left Iran in June alone, marking a surge in returns to Afghanistan since Tehran set a hard deadline for repatriations, the UN's migration agency International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded as many as 28,000 Afghans leaving Iran in a single day in June, after the Iranian regime ordered all undocumented Afghans to leave the country by 6 July. The number of Afghan refugees in neighbouring Iran has swelled since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, many of whom live without legal has contributed to growing anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran, with refugees facing systemic discrimination. The IOM said more than 700,000 Afghans had left Iran since January, with spokesperson Avand Azeez Agha telling news agency AFP that 70% had been "forcibly sent back".The surge in repatriations - and the deadline - have come since Iran and Israel engaged in direct conflict with one another, beginning with Israel attacking nuclear and military sites in mid-June. A ceasefire has since been brokered. As the two exchanged daily strikes, the Iranian regime arrested several Afghan migrants it suspected of spying for Israel, state media these claims, a new wave of deportations began. The semi-official Iranian Mehr news agency reported that police had been directed to accelerate deportations, though the police later denied this."We're scared to go anywhere because there's always the fear they might accuse us of being spies," one Afghan migrant in Iran, who we are not naming to protect their identity, told BBC Persian."At the checkpoints, they do body searches and check people's phones. If they find any messages or videos from foreign media on social networks, it could literally put someone's life in danger. "Many Iranians insult us, saying things like: 'you Afghans are spies' or 'you work for Israel'."Numerous reports in Iranian media indicate that even Afghans with valid visas and documentation have been forcibly deported. Some Afghans who were detained and later freed said they were accused by officials of betraying the Jamal, the UN's refugee co-ordinator for Afghanistan, said that while there was now a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, "the consequences of that war continue"."This movement pre-dates the war, but it has been exacerbated by it," he told BBC Pashto. "And what we hear from the returnees is a series of actions that have caused them to come back, some of them quite coercive, others not as much." Afghan refugees are not eligible for Iranian citizenship, even if they are born in the country, while many are unable to open bank accounts, buy SIM cards or live in certain areas. Employment opportunities are also heavily restricted, and are often limited to hard labour with low this latest push to remove them, Iranian authorities have also urged the public to report undocumented Afghans."There are oppressors here, and there are oppressors there," a second Afghan in Iran said. "We migrants have never been free, never lived a free life."Another said "the future for Afghans living in Iran looks really bleak", adding: "The police are violent and humiliating, and now even the Basij [volunteer militia] have been tasked with arresting Afghans."The surge in repatriations comes after Pakistan accelerated its own drive to expel undocumented Afghans, saying it could no longer manage hosting Jamal said the number of refugees returning to Afghanistan from both Iran and Pakistan this year was in excess of one he thanked both nations for taking in millions of Afghans over the past few decades of instability, he urged them to seek a joint solution to the UN director said humanitarian provisions at the border had been "overwhelmed", adding: "There is simply too many people coming back."Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy prime minister in the Taliban government, said on Saturday that talks with Iranian officials were under way over the Taliban's transport minister also said it was accelerating efforts to transport refugees from the border to their homes.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM
ISLAM QALA: More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. The number of returns from Iran rose dramatically in recent weeks. Afghans have reported increased deportations ahead of the July 6 deadline announced by Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organization for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. Since January, '691,049 people have returned, 70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back', he added. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said, with numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline. Afghans spilled into an IOM-run reception centre out of buses arriving back-to-back at the Islam Qala border point in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday. The recent returns have been marked by a sharp increase in the number of families instead of individuals, the UN said, with men, women and children lugging suitcases carrying all their belongings. Many have few assets and few prospects for work, with Afghanistan facing entrenched poverty and steep unemployment. The country is four years into a fragile recovery from decades of war under Taliban authorities, who have called for a 'dignified' return of migrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Over 200,000 returned to Afghanistan in past nine weeks: interior ministry Kabul's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi raised the Taliban government's concerns in a meeting with Iran's ambassador, according to a statement, saying: 'A coordinated mechanism should be put in place for the gradual return of migrants.' The cash-strapped government faces challenges in integrating the influx of returnees, which has piled on to hundreds of thousands also forced out in recent years from Pakistan – another traditional host of Afghans fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. Severe international aid cuts have also hamstrung UN and NGO responses, with the IOM saying it was 'only able to assist a fraction of those in need'. 'On some high-volume days, such as recently at Islam Qala, assistance reached as few as three percent of undocumented returnees,' it said in a recent statement. Returnees AFP spoke to in recent days at the border cited mounting pressure by Iranian authorities and increased deportations, with none pointing to the recent Iran-Israel conflict as a spur to leave the country. However, 'regional instability – particularly the fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict – and shifting host country policies have accelerated returns, overwhelming Afghanistan's already fragile humanitarian and development systems', the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in a statement. Samiullah Ahmadi, 28, was seeing his country of origin for the first time when he crossed the border. Unsure of what he would do once he reached the Afghan capital Kabul with his family, he was defiant in response to the pressures to return. 'I was born there (Iran). But the situation for Afghans is such that no matter how good you are or even if you have valid documents, they still don't treat you with respect.'
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM - Region
More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. The number of returns from Iran rose dramatically in recent weeks. Afghans have reported increased deportations ahead of the July 6 deadline announced by Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organisation for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. Since January, "691,049 people have returned, 70 per cent of whom were forcibly sent back", he added. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said, with numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline. Afghans spilt into an IOM-run reception centre out of buses arriving back-to-back at the Islam Qala border point in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday. The recent returns have been marked by a sharp increase in the number of families instead of individuals, the UN said, with men, women and children lugging suitcases carrying all their belongings. Many have few assets and few prospects for work, with Afghanistan facing entrenched poverty and steep unemployment. The country is four years into a fragile recovery from decades of war under Taliban authorities, who have called for a "dignified" return of migrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Kabul's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi raised the Taliban government's concerns in a meeting with Iran's ambassador, according to a statement, saying: "A coordinated mechanism should be put in place for the gradual return of migrants." The cash-strapped government faces challenges in integrating the influx of returnees, which has piled on to hundreds of thousands, also forced out in recent years from Pakistan -- another traditional host of Afghans fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. Severe international aid cuts have also hamstrung UN and NGO responses, with the IOM saying it was "only able to assist a fraction of those in need". "On some high-volume days, such as recently at Islam Qala, assistance reached as few as three per cent of undocumented returnees," it said in a recent statement. Returnees AFP spoke to in recent days at the border cited mounting pressure by Iranian authorities and increased deportations, with none pointing to the recent Iran-Israel conflict as a spur to leave the country. However, "regional instability -- particularly the fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict -- and shifting host country policies have accelerated returns, overwhelming Afghanistan's already fragile humanitarian and development systems", the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in a statement. Samiullah Ahmadi, 28, was seeing his country of origin for the first time when he crossed the border. Unsure of what he would do once he reached the Afghan capital Kabul with his family, he was defiant in response to the pressures to return. "I was born there (Iran). But the situation for Afghans is such that no matter how good you are or even if you have valid documents, they still don't treat you with respect." Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
'We have nothing': Afghans driven out of Iran return to uncertain future
The 19-year-old and her three siblings are among tens of thousands of Afghans who have crossed the Islam Qala border point in recent days, the majority forced to leave, according to the United Nations and Taliban authorities. Despite being born in Iran after her parents fled war 40 years ago, Shademani said the country "never accepted us". When police came to her family's home in Shiraz city and ordered them to leave, they had no choice. But Afghanistan is also alien to her. "We don't have anything here," she told AFP in English. Between Iranian universities that would not accept her and the Taliban government, which has banned education for women, Shademani's studies are indefinitely on hold. "I really love studying... I wanted to continue but in Afghanistan, I think I cannot." At Herat province's Islam Qala crossing, the checkpoint is usually busy handling the cycle of smuggling to deportation as young men seek work in Iran. But since Tehran ordered Afghans without the right to remain to leave by July 6, the number of returnees -- especially families -- has surged. More than 230,000 departed in June alone, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Since January, more than 690,000 Afghans have left Iran, "70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back", IOM spokesperson Avand Azeez Agha told AFP. Of the more than a dozen returnees AFP spoke to on Saturday, none said they had fled the recent Iran-Israel conflict, though it may have ramped up pressure. Arrests, however, had helped spur their departures. Few prospects Yadullah Alizada had only the clothes on his back and a cracked phone to call his family when he stepped off one of the many buses unloading people at the IOM-run reception centre. The 37-year-old said he was arrested while working as a day labourer and held at a detention camp before being deported to Afghanistan. Forced to leave without his family or belongings, he slept on a bit of cardboard at the border, determined to stay until his family could join him. "My three kids are back there, they're all sick right now, and they don't know how to get here." He hopes to find work in his home province of Daikundi, but in a country wracked by entrenched poverty and unemployment, he faces an uphill climb. The UN mission for Afghanistan, UNAMA, has warned that the influx of deportees -- many arriving with "no assets, limited access to services, and no job prospects" -- risks further destabilising the crisis-wracked country. Long lines snaked into tents encircling the reception centre where returnees accessed UN, NGO and government services. Gusty wind whipped women's Iranian-style hijabs and young men's trendy outfits, clothing that stood out against the shalwar kameez that has become ubiquitous in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power in 2021, imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi inspected the site on Saturday, striding through the crowd surrounded by a heavily armed entourage and pledging to ensure "that no Afghan citizen is denied their rights in Iran" and that seized or abandoned assets would be returned. Taliban authorities have consistently called for "dignified" treatment of the migrants and refugees hosted in Iran and Pakistan, the latter having also ousted hundreds of thousands of Afghans since the latest decades-long war ended. 'Have nothing' Over one million Afghans have already returned to Afghanistan this year from both neighbouring countries. The numbers are only expected to rise, even as foreign aid is slashed and the Taliban government struggles for cash and international recognition. The IOM says it can only serve a fraction of the returnees, with four million Afghans potentially impacted by Iran's deadline. Some of the most vulnerable pass through the agency's transit centre in Herat city, where they can get a hot meal, a night's rest and assistance on their way. But at the clean and shaded compound, Bahara Rashidi was still worried about what would become of her and her eight sisters back in Afghanistan. They had smuggled themselves into Iran to make a living after their father died. "There is no man in our family who can work here, and we don't have a home or money," the 19-year-old told AFP. "We have nothing." © 2025 AFP
