Afghanistan

Iran says it has deported more than one million Afghan migrants

TEHRAN — Iran has deported approximately 1.1 million Afghan migrants since the start of this Persian calendar year, but nearly half of them have since returned, according to Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.

In a televised interview, Momeni said Iran can no longer accommodate more Afghan migrants and is intensifying efforts to tighten border controls to prevent their entry.

“We have deported 1.1 million foreign nationals in the past year, but 50 percent of those expelled have reentered Iran,” Momeni said. “Iran no longer has the capacity to host more migrants, and we are working to control their entry and close the borders.”

Many Afghan migrants in Iran describe their living conditions as dire and unjust. In interviews with Amu TV, some Afghan refugees said they face discrimination, arbitrary arrests, and deportations.

The situation is also deteriorating in Pakistan, where authorities have ramped up mass detentions and forced deportations in recent days.

“Police are arresting even those migrants who have legal documents and sending them to Haji Camp for deportation,” one Afghan refugee in Pakistan said.

Another Afghan migrant, Nazanin Mohseni, called Pakistan’s treatment of Afghan refugees unjust and in violation of international laws.

“We fled to Pakistan to escape the Taliban, but now we are being expelled from here too,” she said.

Pakistan Tightens Deportation Measures

Both Iran and Pakistan—two countries with deep historical and cultural ties to Afghanistan—have forcibly deported thousands of Afghan families over the past year.

In the latest crackdown, Pakistan’s prime minister ordered the expulsion of Afghan refugees holding ACC (Afghan Citizen Card) and PoR (Proof of Registration) cards. He also warned that all Afghans awaiting resettlement to third countries must leave Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31.