Turkey has expelled 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, according to a statement released by the Taliban-run Ministry of Refugees. The expulsions took place on November 8 and 9, with the migrants being flown back to Kabul.
The statement noted that some of those deported held “legal documents” but were still returned by Turkish authorities.
Earlier, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, Afghanistan’s representative in Geneva, highlighted the scale of migration during a session of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. He noted that more than 8 million Afghans have left the country since the Taliban’s return to power. Andisha attributed the mass exodus to “human rights violations by the Taliban, repression of citizens, particularly women, bans on education for girls and women, increasing poverty, and acts of retaliation by the Taliban.”
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has previously reported that key drivers of forced migration worldwide include persecution, conflict, violence, and serious disruptions to public order. Afghanistan, alongside Syria, continues to have some of the highest numbers of undocumented migrants globally.
Iran and Pakistan have also intensified their deportations of Afghan migrants. Reports from Afghan refugees in these countries frequently detail complaints of mistreatment by local police, often violating basic human rights and international refugee standards.
Hosein Sharafati-Rad, the head of the Office for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants in Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province, previously stated that more than 3,000 Afghan migrants are deported daily through the Dogharoun border. He noted that the number of deportations from Iran has increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year.
According to the UNHCR’s recent global report, migration numbers have risen by 5 percent (an estimated 5.3 million people) this year compared to last year, highlighting a growing trend of displacement worldwide.
