KABUL/TEHRAN (SW) – The viral video of an Iranian security official sitting forcefully on the neck of an Afghan migrant has brought to spotlight the abusive treatment many such migrants face in Iran.
A number of Afghan migrants residing in Iran, told Salam Watandar that in recent weeks, humiliation, insults, verbal and even physical violence against them have increased.
Parisa Mobarez, one of these Afghan migrants, says, “Indeed, many Afghan immigrants in Iran are humiliated, insulted, beaten and tortured and even killed, and no one asks for retribution and no one is accountable.”
According to them, Afghan migrants on the other hand, face the problem of not renewing their visas linger on.
Banafsha Zafari, another Afghan migrant, explains about the employment condition in Iran: “The employment situation has also deteriorated for the immigrants. For example, they tell Afghans to do different work with very little money. They give the Afghans certain tasks and then they say that ‘because you are Afghan, you have to do cleaning as well’. Even if you are doing a good job, you can’t leave the work on time.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the de-facto government of the Islamic Emirate calls the mistreatment of Afghan immigrants in Iran as “worrying” and asked Tehran to prosecute the perpetrators of the mistreatment of Afghan immigrants.
Zia Ahmad Takal, Deputy Spokesman of the ministry, says: “While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate is grateful to the Iranian nation for hosting Afghan immigrants in that country, it asks the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran to track down the perpetrators of the recent rude behavior towards Afghans and should not allow the violation of the rights of Afghans to lead to the resentment of people’s feelings in Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, some other Afghan citizens living in Iran and witnessing mistreatment of immigrants say that they have to endure this situation in order to make ends meet.
Kamal, an Afghan citizen who illegally lives in Iran, explains the situation of his six-member family: “I live in Iran with four children. We don’t have legal documents here either and we are under pressure. My two children have to go to school and study. Since we don’t have documents, they cannot study. There is economic and mental pressures.”
Azizullah Walizada, another Afghan citizen who also lives in Iran illegally, says: “Our request from Iran, the United Nations and the UN High Commissioner is to think about immigrants and these arrests, forced deportations and stop it as soon as possible. Their sarcastic words should also stop.”
Earlier, Ahmad Reza Radan, Iran’s Chief of Police, said that undocumented migrants must leave the country by the end of the year.
According to statistics released by Iran, more than five million Afghans currently live in this country.
