KABUL (SW) – Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, in response to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s statement on the return of Afghans to the country, emphasizes that Iran should avoid forcibly deporting Afghan immigrants.
Mujahid tells Salam Watandar that the Islamic Emirate tries to encourage immigrants to return to the country and Iran must also adopt this policy.
He adds: “The Islamic Emirate wants Afghan immigrants to return to their country with dignity and modesty; but through encouragement and with regular programs.” Mujahid says that applying pressure to return the migrants will harm bilateral relations.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a speech at the World Refugee Forum in Geneva, said that Afghan immigrants are a serious challenge to Iran’s public resources, including health and education. He added that the problem of Afghan refugees cannot be solved without their return to their homeland.
“Currently and after the developments in Afghanistan in 2021, my country hosts the largest displaced population in the world. In this regard, the donor countries must cooperate effectively to help Afghanistan to create suitable economic infrastructure. The main responsibility rests with the ruling authorities in Afghanistan,” said Amir-Abdollahian on Wednesday.
Amidst this, some Afghan immigrants in Iran share their experiences, highlighting challenges such as difficulties in accessing medicine from pharmacies and an increasingly anti-immigrant atmosphere.
Arkadash Rahmani, one of the Afghan immigrants in Iran, says: “While coming to work, I accidentally met two Afghan boys, who said that when we get sick and go to the pharmacies, they say that you don’t have a residential card, a passport, and an insurance card. One of them told me that his brother was sick, and they faced lots of trouble getting medicine.”
Meanwhile, officials at Herat’s Directorate of Immigrant Affairs say that in the last six months, 2,786 Afghan families have been deported from Iran.
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