Over 700,000 Afghan Migrants Returned from Iran in One Month

Photo: UNAMA – via Twitter (@UN)

The Taliban’s Committee for Refugee Affairs in Herat province has announced that over the past month, more than 711,000 Afghan migrants have entered the country through the Islam Qala border.

According to Ahmadullah Muttaqi, head of Taliban’s Information and Culture Department in Herat and the media officer of the committee, more than 417,000 of them were forcibly deported and about 294,000 returned voluntarily from Iran to Afghanistan.

He stated that the provision of services to migrants, including bread, cash assistance, temporary shelter, transportation, and health services, is “regularly,” and so far, more than 684,000 of these migrants have been transferred to their respective provinces and home regions. The process of distributing residential plots is also underway, and according to him, efforts are being made in cooperation with relevant institutions to provide sustainable housing and further support for the migrants.

This comes as the deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran has increased in recent months, especially following the recent conflicts between Iran and Israel.

The mass return of migrants is happening at a time when Afghanistan's economic situation has become more fragile than before, and the capacity of domestic institutions to respond to this unprecedented wave of returnees is extremely limited.