TEHRAN, Apr 6: Amidst the ongoing Iranian crackdown on Afghan nationals in the country, Tehran has expelled over 4,000 Afghan migrant workers from its Kerman province in just two weeks, highlighting the rise in the number of forced evictions and deportations.
Mehdi Bakhshi, the Chief Prosecutor of Kerman Province in Iran, announced the mass arrests and deportations of Afghan migrants in recent weeks. According to him, over 4,000 undocumented Afghan nationals were detained and deported within just 15 days, Khaama News reported.
Amin Yadegarnajad, Deputy Operational Commander of Kerman Police, revealed that in 2024-2025, 34,706 Afghan migrants without legal residency documents were expelled from the province. He also urged Iranian citizens to cooperate with law enforcement in identifying undocumented migrants.
The issue of forced evictions and execution of Afghan nationals in Iran has caused concern among the Taliban government in Kabul, which has repeatedly asked Tehran to show leniency in its treatment of its nationals, albeit with little success.
The mistreatment of Afghan migrants in Iran has also been noticed by the international community, with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stating that in 2024 alone, over 1.2 million Afghan migrants returned from Iran, with 67% of them forcibly deported. This reflects a broader trend of increasing deportations amid tightening immigration policies in Iran.
Previously, Nader Yar Ahmadi, head of the Iranian Interior Ministry’s Migration Centre, disclosed that over three million Afghan migrants had been deported from Iran in the last three years, underlining the scale of the migrant crisis.
Tehran had earlier stated that many of those evicted or otherwise executed were involved in criminal activities, such as drug smuggling, and causing law and order problems.
The Taliban’s Acting Minister for Refugees and Repatriation, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir met with Mohammad Reza Bahrami, Director General for South Asia at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, to propose a joint working group for addressing Afghan returnees. The meeting was aimed at establishing a coordinated plan for repatriation.
In response, Bahrami invited Abdul Kabir to visit Tehran, requesting that the Taliban first draft a comprehensive proposal outlining their strategy for repatriation. This plan is expected to form the basis of future discussions between the two sides.
In the meantime, as deportations continue at a rising scale, both countries face growing pressure to find a humanitarian and strategic solution for managing the return of Afghan migrants, especially in light of Afghanistan’s ongoing economic and security challenges.
(UNI)
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