Hasht–E Subh While the trend of expelling Afghan refugees from Pakistan intensifies, Iran has also expedited the forced departure of refugees. Expelled refugees from Iran claim that despite having legal documents, they were detained and then deported. Sources at the Taliban’s foreign affairs agency office in Herat confirmed that Iran has expelled Afghan refugees from the country with visas and legal documents.
In recent weeks, both Iran and Pakistan have accelerated the process of expelling Afghan refugees. Despite repeated appeals from human rights organizations and UN member states, these two countries have continued forced deportations, refusing to comply with any demands from the international community or Afghan refugees.
Dozens of expelled Afghan refugees claim that, despite having valid visas and legal documents, they were forcibly deported from Iran. According to their accounts, Iranian police are removing all refugees from their places of residence and relocating them to camps.
Sayed Gul, one of the refugees who obtained an Iranian visa by paying 80 euros, states that his visa was valid for 45 days. However, after 19 days had passed, Iranian police detained him and forcefully expelled him from the country.
The expelled refugee from Iran recounts, “I got a visa from Herat, valid for 45 days. In Iran, I was in my room when the sound of an Iranian police patrol grew loud. They entered the room and ordered me to stand up, calling me insultingly an Afghan. When they escorted me out of the room, I showed them my passport and visa. One police officer mockingly said that in our country, these documents are worthless and invalid.”
Sayed Gul further states, “They detained me, poured water over me with a pipe, and took me to the camp. The camp is a very harsh place. It’s not livable at all, but for four nights, hundreds of others detained from Afghanistan were piled on top of each other and then deported to Afghanistan.”
Expelled refugees from Iran accuse the country’s police of mistreatment and torture of refugees. They assert that when an Iranian visa is not recognized as valid by the police, political representations of Iran in Afghanistan should refrain from issuing visas to the public.
Sayed Shah, a recently expelled refugee from Iran, reports that the police in that country detained him from the city of Karaj and subjected him to physical abuse. He adds, “The issuance of visas by the Iranian consulate to Afghan citizens should be credible. If the Iranian police do not recognize it, Why do they issue the visa and take our money?”
Refugees expelled from Iran emphasize that despite having valid residency documents, they have been severely beaten and forcibly deported by the country’s police. They assert that Afghanistan lacks a legitimate government to advocate for their rights in other countries.
Sayed Shah, an expelled refugee from Iran, laments the absence of a responsive government in Afghanistan, stating, “We don’t have a government that addresses our issues. For five or six months, Afghan citizens have been holding their valid visas and are deported by Iran, but the Taliban remain silent. When I arrived at the border, I told a Taliban member that I have a visa; he nodded his head and said nothing.”
The representative office of the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Afghan citizens, despite having valid visas and other residency documents, have been forcibly expelled from Iran. A source within this institution states that between 10 to 15 individuals with visas are expelled daily from the Islam Qala border to Afghanistan.
Sources in the Nimruz province at the Pul-e Abrisham port also confirm that over a thousand individuals cross into Afghanistan daily, either forcibly or voluntarily, from this border. A credible source at this border reveals that refugees, possessing legal documents from Iran, are also deported from Iran. Additionally, he notes that between 75 to 80 refugees with valid visas and legal documents are repelled by Iran each week. This source explicitly mentions signs of torture visible on the faces of expelled refugees.
It is noteworthy that Iran is currently engaging in the expulsion of refugees with legal documents. The country is reported to forcibly deport up to three thousand Afghan refugees daily through the Islam Qala and Pul-e Abrish Port, particularly targeting those without residency documents.
Simultaneously, the forceful expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan continues unabated. Despite calls from human rights organizations, Pakistan has shown little responsiveness. Pakistan asserts that all refugees without proper documentation are subject to expulsion, ruling out any compromise in this regard.