The number of Afghan nationals deported from Iran has dropped by more than half in recent weeks, according to figures from a Taliban commission that monitors migration.
Earlier this month, Taliban’s refugees ministry said as many as 30,000 people a day were being forced back across the border. By this week, the highest daily total had fallen to about 13,000, with some days registering fewer than 7,000 returnees.
Despite the decline, thousands still cross into western Afghanistan every day — many exhausted, carrying little more than dust-stained clothing and bitter accounts of how they were treated.
“The situation in Iran is very bad,” said Milad Yawari, a deportee interviewed at the Islam Qala crossing. “Every day the police come to the worksites and take Afghans away — with or without documents. They insult us, they harass us. We have no problem with the Iranian people, but the officials treated us very badly.”
Others described extortion and abuse. “They arrested me and took two million tomans,” said Abdullah, another returnee. “At the border they took another 100,000. If you climbed into the bus too slowly, they cursed at you. On the road they charged us 430,000 tomans just for food, even if you didn’t eat.”
Several deportees told Amu TV that Iranian employers had been instructed not to hire Afghans without legal papers, leaving many afraid to leave their homes. “The authorities told businesses not to give jobs to undocumented Afghans,” said Mir Agha. “If we went outside, we were beaten and insulted.”
The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations said more than 1.8 million Afghans have been expelled from Iran in the past three months. Many of those now returning after years abroad face an uncertain future, with no housing, few job prospects and dwindling humanitarian aid.
