Taliban: Nearly Two Million Afghan Migrants Deported from Iran in Three Months

Photo: Wakil Kohsar / AFP via RFI

The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation has announced that in just the past three months, nearly 1.8 million Afghan migrants have been forcibly returned from Iran.

This figure was announced on Wednesday, July 30, by Abdul Rahman Rashid, the Deputy Minister for Professional Affairs of the ministry, during a press conference. According to him, over the past year, 184,000 migrants have also been forcibly returned from Pakistan and more than 5,000 from Turkey.

This Taliban official claimed that all returnees have been registered and their basic needs have been met. He also stated that, based on a decree from the Taliban leader, 38 residential towns have been established in 29 provinces for the returning migrants.

However, field observations and reports from independent organizations present a different picture; women abandoned with their children in border deserts, and families forced to take refuge in makeshift tents, ruined mud houses, or mosques.

The deportation process from Iran is still ongoing. Iranian officials have declared that more than one million Afghan migrants have been expelled so far and have emphasized that all undocumented migrants must leave the country. Estimates of the number of undocumented Afghan migrants in Iran range between two to four million.

In Pakistan, the situation is also critical. The residence cards of more than one million Afghan migrants have expired, and the Pakistani government has yet to make a final decision about their extension. This suspension and uncertainty have placed millions of Afghan women and children on the brink of forced deportation and fateless.