NIMROZ (SW) – Thousands of Afghan immigrants are getting deported from Iran on daily basis, said officials.
Gholam Nabi is a resident of Nimroz who immigrated to Iran illegally last year to work. He says that due to not having legal documents, he was arrested by the Iranian police and then forcibly returned to Afghanistan through the Nimroz border.
He adds: “I wanted to go to work in the morning. On the way, Iran’s police caught me and after three days in detention, they forcibly deported me again to Afghanistan.”
Mohammad Arif, another Afghan immigrant in Iran who has recently been forced to return to Afghanistan through the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat, says: “A few days ago, Iranian officials caught us and treated us badly, they took us out of Iran. We are currently in Herat and we don’t even have the fare to go home.”
In addition, Iranian media have reported that according to the announcement of the Ministry of Labor, Afghan immigrants who do not have work permits or temporary documents are not allowed to work in this country. This ministry has warned Iranian employers that they will be fined if they hire Afghan immigrants without a work permit.
Reyhana Azizi, an Afghan immigrant in Iran, says that she immigrated to Iran because of her husband’s unemployment. She says that their visas have expired and have not been extended by the Iranian government.
Concerned about the situation of Afghan immigrants in Iran, she adds that she is also worried that they will not be forced to be deported to Afghanistan. “When we go to the visa extension office, they ask us six million tomans per month from each person. We have no income, and how to pay? We are worried about forced deportation.”
Meanwhile, a number of Afghan immigrants in Iran, expressing concern about the situation of immigrants in this country, say that the United Nations should stop the forced deportation of Afghan immigrants from Iran.
Sharif Mateen, another Afghan immigrant in Iran, says: “We ask the United Nations, aid organizations and the Islamic Republic of Iran to help Afghan immigrants and stop the process of forced deportation of immigrants, otherwise, if the migrants are forcibly deported, they may perish.”
The border officials in Herat and Nimroz say that in recent weeks, the process of forced deportation of immigrants from Iran has intensified and nearly 8,000 people are returned to Afghanistan through the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat and the Silk Bridge in Nimroz.
Abdullah Qayoumi, the border manager of migrant affairs at the Islam Qala border crossing, says: “In the past months, 1,500 to 2,500 Afghan immigrants were forcibly deported from Iran, and now 3,000 to more than 4,000 people are being forcibly deported from Iran every day. The number will increase in the coming days.”
Mohammad Hashem Hanzala, commissioner of Nimroz Silk Bridge, says: “All the passengers who are returned from Iran are around 3,000 to 3,500 people per day, and a daily standard has been set for them to be given food and cash aid.”
According to the statistics of the Ministry of Immigrants and Returnees, three million Afghan citizens live in Iran, and according to Iranian officials, this country currently hosts five million Afghan refugees.
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