Iranian police have detained eight Afghan nationals in the northwestern city of Tabriz for allegedly residing in the country without legal documentation, a senior police official said on Wednesday.
Yadollah Jahan Ara, the city’s police chief, said the arrests were made during a targeted operation. “These undocumented foreign nationals were apprehended and transferred to a police facility,” he said, according to a report from the state-run IRNA news agency.
The detentions come amid a wider crackdown on undocumented Afghan migrants across Iran, where officials have stepped up enforcement of immigration laws, citing national security and economic concerns. Rights groups have criticized the Iranian government for its treatment of Afghan refugees, many of whom fled conflict and economic collapse at home.
The Iranian government has said that it expects all undocumented Afghans to leave the country, warning of stricter enforcement in the coming months. Humanitarian agencies continue to raise alarm about the conditions of deportees, many of whom return to Afghanistan with limited resources and face uncertain futures.
UN figures show that more than 256,000 migrants were expelled from Iran only in June.
