Iranian media report that the expulsion of Afghan migrants has caused about 1,000 classrooms to go empty in Khorasan Razavi province in northeast of Iran.
According to those reports, some 30,000 Afghan students, along with their families, were expelled from Khorasan Razavi. Their departure has left the equivalent of roughly 1,000 classes vacant.
Amirallah Shamaqadri, deputy security and law enforcement governor of Khorasan Razavi, said Saturday that in past school years more than 75,000 Afghan students studied in the province. Half of them were undocumented migrants who have now returned to their home country.
Shamaqadri said 95% of those students lived in Mashhad and attended schools in that city.
He said about 35,000 Afghan students with documentation still attend schools in Khorasan Razavi.
Shamaqadri added, “From the beginning of this year until Sept. 25, 945,000 Afghan migrants have returned to their country through the Dogharun border. About 280,000 (around 30%) of them were undocumented residents of Khorasan Razavi and Mashhad.”
The reports also say that under the plan to send undocumented Afghan migrants residing in Iran back to their country, those identified are being returned through the Dogharun, Milk, and Mahirud border crossings after legal procedures.
