KABUL: The Iranian government has initiated the deportation of Afghan immigrants holding valid passports and visas, as reported by TOLO News, citing Herat local officials.
They revealed that Iranian police tore up the passports and visas of some Afghan immigrants and violently expelled them from Iran.
Abdullah Qayoumi, head of immigration affairs at Islam Qala port in Herat, said that many legal Afghan immigrants deported from Iran enter the country via this port daily.
“They deport our immigrants who have legal documents and go there to find employment. Passports are not valid for them. They are saying in the media that we are deporting those immigrants who do not have passports and legal documents, while this is not true,” Qayoumi said.
Despite having Iranian visas, some deported Afghans claimed they were arrested and expelled, according to TOLO News.
Khairullah, an Afghan immigrant deported from Iran, said, “We told them that we have passports, and they said that here your passport does not work. They tore our passports.”
Moreover, human rights advocates stated that Iran violates international rules and norms. “Afghan immigrants have always been treated politically, and Iran does not care who is legal and who is not. Iran has always pursued its own political priorities,” Sayed Ashraf, a human rights activist, said. Local officials in Herat highlighted that the process of expelling Afghan immigrants from Iran has doubled over the past month, reported TOLO News.
According to the figures given by the Herat refugee department, up to 4000 Afghans deported from Iran entered the country through Islam Qala Port.
Reportedly, earlier this week, the Taliban-led ministry said on Wednesday that 1,957 Afghan migrants have returned to Afghanistan from Iran through the Islam Qala border crossing. The Taliban-led Ministry of Migrants’ Affairs, citing the head of the Herat border authority, has said that 24 families, comprising 91 people, were forcibly repatriated, according to Khaama Press report.
Earlier this month, a significant number of Afghan migrants who recently returned from Iran complained of mistreatment by the Iranian security forces, according to TOLO News reported. (ANI)