KABUL (SW) – As hundreds of Afghan citizens are getting deported from Iran daily, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, the acting minister of Returnees and Refugees, has urged Tehran to stop the forced deportation of Afghans.
Haqqani has said that in order to address the issues of Afghan migrants in Iran, the Islamic Emirate and the Iranian government have agreed to form a joint committee.
“We have succeeded in agreeing on the formation of a joint commission to halt the forced deportation process. For those migrants facing issues there, a joint mechanism has been created for the Islamic Emirate and Iran to resolve the matters,” he said.
However, Afghan migrants — both documented and undocumented — say they face massive challenges in Iran, such as hard labour for low wages, mistreatment by Iranians, and forced deportation.
Ali Ranjpoor, an Afghan migrant in Iran, said that this year, there has been a surge in crackdowns against Afghan migrants in the country. He adds: “The situation of migrants in Iran is not good now; because every day they arrest them. They are taken from work and from in front of bakeries; they are kept in detention camps for a day or two and then deported.”
Azizullah Walizada, another Afghan migrant in Iran, said: “Afghans are not given good jobs; if they are given work, the pay is low. I work in a dairy production company and earn 12 million tomans per month only. I do the hardest work, but the salary is very low.”
Despite this, unemployment and poverty in Afghanistan have led many citizens to migrate to Iran in search of a better livelihood, accepting the difficulties of migration and life in the country.
Azizullah Akbari, who was recently deported from Iran, says he went to Iran due to unemployment and poverty. “There are no jobs in Afghanistan. I went to Iran after struggling to get my passport, and in Iran, they arrested us even though we had passports. The job situation there is also very bad, and the government doesn’t provide any support.”
Iran has long been one of the main destinations for Afghan migrants, with over 3 million Afghan citizens currently living in that country. However, forced deportation and mistreatment have made life increasingly difficult for them in Iran.
