More than 300,000 migrants have entered the country from Iran through the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat Province over the past 12 days, most of them forcibly deported, according to figures by the Taliban.
Ahmadullah Muttaqi, the Taliban’s director of information and culture in Herat, said on Sunday that a total of 301,667 people had crossed into Afghanistan during this period. On Friday alone, July 4, nearly 38,000 migrants returned, he added.
While the Taliban official did not explicitly state whether the returns were forced, United Nations agencies have previously reported that the overwhelming majority of Afghan migrants returning from Iran are being expelled under increasingly harsh conditions.
The spike in deportations comes amid rising tensions in the region, particularly following Iran’s recent 12-day conflict with Israel, which has been accompanied by an intensified crackdown on undocumented migrants.
According to UN data, Iran is now deporting an average of 30,000 Afghans per day — a pace that rights organizations say is unsustainable and violates international humanitarian norms.
Human rights and migration advocacy groups have condemned the mass expulsions, describing them as a breach of human dignity and a violation of refugee protections. Political and civil society figures have also urged Tehran to honor international conventions related to the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers.
