Latest news with #IranDeportation
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran deports 300,000 Afghans over Israel spying fears
Iran has deported more than 300,000 Afghan migrants over the last two weeks, Afghan authorities said. The exodus has been sparked by a national security drive in Tehran, which fears Afghans could be spying for Israel. Refugees described arbitrary arrests, detentions and widespread abuse by Iranian security forces, and said tensions spiralled after Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and military leadership last month. 'Some chose to return voluntarily, but most were deported by Iran,' said Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the head of Afghanistan's information and culture department. Facing extreme high temperatures and a lack of basic facilities, humanitarian organisations have warned of an impending crisis at the Afghanistan-Iran border. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which assists the returnees, said that many Afghans were arriving with 'nothing but the clothes on their back' and 'in urgent need of food, support and medical care'. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and other groups are providing temporary aid, but they are not equipped to provide long-term support. Thousands of Afghans fled to Iran seeking refuge after the Taliban's return to power in 2021, and could face persecution on their return. Some female returnees said they were denied support by Taliban authorities as they were travelling without an adult male to accompany them. Iran is home to an estimated six million Afghans, many of whom are undocumented refugees following decades of conflict in their home country. Although Tehran was once a welcoming host, the regime in May ordered all those it said were there 'illegally' to leave by July 6 or face arrest. A young Afghan who lives in Tehran told The Telegraph that friends had been tortured by police over a spying allegation. 'Four of my friends were accused of spying and taken to a camp and severely tortured,' he told The Telegraph. 'They are innocent migrants. They were dragged from their flat, badly beaten, and one of them nearly died. 'I don't know about their whereabouts now.' Another said his father was arrested and tortured for several days, again on suspicion of espionage. 'He was kept without food and water, and later deported to Afghanistan. We are facing a grave situation here,' he said. Videos circulating on social media show Iranian security forces raiding sites in Tehran in which Afghan migrants worked. On June 20, police released footage of two Afghan men they claimed had confessed to spying on sensitive locations, including the state broadcaster's headquarters and a senior official's residence. Security forces also raided a factory in southern Tehran and detained several Afghans accused of assisting Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in plotting drone attacks on air defence systems in Isfahan. 'We are called Israeli spies in the streets and markets,' said an Afghan migrant deportee. 'Conditions are harsh and our grievances are ignored.' Many deportees have told of systematic harassment and arbitrary arrests. 'Arrests of Afghans became widespread. Checkpoints sprang up everywhere. They pulled us off buses, accused us of being spies, and took us away for interrogation,' said one. Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, said hundreds of Afghans had been detained on espionage charges, and that the Iranian media was inciting hatred and using dehumanising language against Afghan communities. Fatemeh Mohajerani, an Iranian government spokesman, said last week: 'We've always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority, and naturally illegal nationals must return.' Between June 1 and July 5, nearly 450,000 Afghans returned from Iran, a spokesman for the IOM said on Monday, bringing the total for the year so far to more than 900,000. The IFRC said at the weekend that large groups of Afghans, including many children, were arriving via the Islam Qala border crossing, having endured 'exhaustion, hunger, and uncertainty on their journey home' in temperatures hovering over 43C.
Arab News
7 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran
KABUL: Ahmad Nazir had nothing with him except his work clothes when he reached the Islam Qala border crossing and entered Afghanistan, forced, like hundreds of thousands of others, to suddenly leave Iran. Nazir, 24, has worked at a restaurant in Tehran for the past four years. He arrived at Islam Qala — part of the main route connecting Afghanistan's Herat and Iran's Mashhad — on July 6, which was the deadline that Iranian authorities set for undocumented Afghans to leave. 'Two days ago, the Iranian police took me from the restaurant and put me on a bus to Islam Qala. I came with nothing but my work clothes,' he told Arab News. A native of the central Parwan province — some 600 km from Herat — Nazir is now waiting for his family to help him return home. He is one of nearly 450,000 Afghans who returned to the country since June, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration and local nongovernmental organizations helping the returnees. 'Approximately 30,000 Afghans are returning from Iran each day through the Islam Qala border crossing, and most are forcibly deported. They include both undocumented refugees and Afghans with legal documents,' said Abdul Fatah Jawad, director of the Ehsas Welfare and Social Services Organization, which is providing help in Herat province. 'Most families arriving at the Islam Qala border crossing have no tents, forcing many to improvise makeshift shelters to shield themselves and their children from the scorching sun. They wait in these harsh conditions for their turn to receive limited cash assistance before continuing on to their home provinces.' Many have nowhere to go as they moved to Iran decades ago with their whole families. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities, which have vowed to support all those returning, do not have the means and funding to do so. 'The people of Herat have shown tremendous support, offering food and transportation to returning families,' Jawad said. 'Ehsas is providing cooked meals and water to up to 3,000 people each day, but this support is far from sufficient given the scale of new arrivals. A significantly broader and more urgent response is needed from the government, international organizations, and those with the means to contribute. This is a humanitarian crisis of much greater magnitude.' The exodus from Iran is worsening a crisis caused by a similar deportation drive that has been underway in Pakistan since last year. The two countries have hosted millions of Afghans fleeing war and poverty at home for the past 40 years. Official estimates suggest that over 4 million Afghan nationals were living in Pakistan, while in Iran, the figure is around 6 million, with 4 million believed to be undocumented. In 2025 alone, more than 900,000 Afghan refugees and migrants have been forced to leave both countries, pushing local systems to the brink of collapse and jeopardizing access to vital services for both returnees and the communities that host them. While many Afghans have fled the Israeli bombing of Iranian cities in mid-June, the directive for undocumented migrants to depart voluntarily has been in place since March. Iranian authorities ordered them to comply by July 6 or face deportation. Many of those returning through Islam Qala, the main border crossing, are completely unprepared to move. Some were born in Iran and have never lived in Afghanistan. Islamuddin Momini, a university lecturer from Herat who joined a convoy delivering aid to the returnees in Islam Qala, said the situation was 'extremely grim,' with many people arriving visibly traumatized. 'They are living in a state of psychological shock, compounded by severe shortages of food, water, and shelter,' Momini told Arab News. 'Upon returning to their home provinces, returnees will face a new set of challenges, including limited access to employment, education, and livelihood opportunities. Addressing these medium to long-term needs requires comprehensive support systems to facilitate their reintegration into society — an especially difficult task amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis and prevailing restrictions.'
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iran tells millions of Afghans to leave or face arrest on day of deadline
Millions of Afghan migrants and refugees in Iran have been asked to leave or face arrest as a deadline set by the government comes to an end. Sunday's target date neared amid public concerns over security in the aftermath of the 12-day conflict with Israel, which the United States joined with air strikes on Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities. But humanitarian organisations warned that mass deportations could further destabilise Afghanistan, one of the world's most impoverished nations. Iran is home to an estimated 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, and many have lived there for decades. In 2023, Tehran launched a campaign to expel foreigners it said were living in the country 'illegally'. In March, the Iranian government ordered that Afghans without the right to remain should leave voluntarily by Sunday or face expulsion. Since then, more than 700,000 Afghans have left, and hundreds of thousands of others face expulsion. More than 230,000 departed in June alone, the United Nations International Organization for Migration government has denied targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland to escape war, poverty and Taliban rule. Batoul Akbari, a restaurant owner, told Al Jazeera that Afghans living in Tehran were hurt by 'anti-Afghan sentiment', adding that it was heartbreaking to see 'people sent away from the only home they have ever known'. 'Being born in Iran gives us the feeling of having two homelands,' Akbari said. 'Our parents are from Afghanistan, but this is what we've always known as home.' Mohammad Nasim Mazaheri, a student whose family had to leave Iran, agreed: 'The deportations have torn families apart.' The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that Iran deported more than 30,000 Afghans on average each day during the war with Israel, up from about 2,000 earlier. 'We have always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority, and naturally, illegal nationals must return,' Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday. Late last month, the UNHCR said, of the 1.2 million returning Afghans, more than half had come from Iran after its government set its deadline on March 20. 'They are coming in buses, and sometimes, five buses arrive at one time with families and others, and the people are let out of the bus, and they are simply bewildered, disoriented and tired and hungry as well,' Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan said as he described the scene at a border crossing. 'This has been exacerbated by the war, but I must say it has been part of an underlying trend that we have seen of returns from Iran, some of which are voluntary, but a large portion were also deportations.' Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said Afghans have increasingly been blamed for economic hardships, shortages and social issues in Iran. 'These accusations have been fuelled by political rhetoric and social media campaigns following 12 days of conflict between Iran and Israel and claims that Israel has recruited Afghans as spies,' he said.
Al Jazeera
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran tells millions of Afghans to leave or face arrest on day of deadline
Millions of Afghan migrants and refugees in Iran have been asked to leave or face arrest as a deadline set by the government comes to an end. Sunday's target date neared amid public concerns over security in the aftermath of the 12-day conflict with Israel, which the United States joined with air strikes on Iran's uranium-enrichment facilities. But humanitarian organisations warned that mass deportations could further destabilise Afghanistan, one of the world's most impoverished nations. Iran is home to an estimated 4 million Afghan migrants and refugees, and many have lived there for decades. In 2023, Tehran launched a campaign to expel foreigners it said were living in the country 'illegally'. In March, the Iranian government ordered that Afghans without the right to remain should leave voluntarily by Sunday or face expulsion. Since then, more than 700,000 Afghans have left, and hundreds of thousands of others face expulsion. More than 230,000 departed in June alone, the United Nations International Organization for Migration said. The government has denied targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland to escape war, poverty and Taliban rule. Batoul Akbari, a restaurant owner, told Al Jazeera that Afghans living in Tehran were hurt by 'anti-Afghan sentiment', adding that it was heartbreaking to see 'people sent away from the only home they have ever known'. 'Being born in Iran gives us the feeling of having two homelands,' Akbari said. 'Our parents are from Afghanistan, but this is what we've always known as home.' Mohammad Nasim Mazaheri, a student whose family had to leave Iran, agreed: 'The deportations have torn families apart.' The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that Iran deported more than 30,000 Afghans on average each day during the war with Israel, up from about 2,000 earlier. 'We have always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority, and naturally, illegal nationals must return,' Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday. Late last month, the UNHCR said, of the 1.2 million returning Afghans, more than half had come from Iran after its government set its deadline on March 20. 'They are coming in buses, and sometimes, five buses arrive at one time with families and others, and the people are let out of the bus, and they are simply bewildered, disoriented and tired and hungry as well,' Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan said as he described the scene at a border crossing. 'This has been exacerbated by the war, but I must say it has been part of an underlying trend that we have seen of returns from Iran, some of which are voluntary, but a large portion were also deportations.' Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said Afghans have increasingly been blamed for economic hardships, shortages and social issues in Iran. 'These accusations have been fuelled by political rhetoric and social media campaigns following 12 days of conflict between Iran and Israel and claims that Israel has recruited Afghans as spies,' he said.
