Iran expels Afghan workers

Iran has stepped up the process of expelling illegal Afghan workers. Within the last months, 20,000 were deported from Iran, says the Department of Refugee Repatriation.

Iran has stepped up the process of expelling illegal Afghan workers. Within the last months, 20,000 were deported from Iran, says the Department of Refugee Repatriation.
Hameedullah Khateebi, the head of the department, says the Afghans are arrested by security forces and “expelled after passing a few nights in camps in Iran.” The men who are often picked up at work, are forced to leave before they can even collect their wages, he adds.
Some workers have said they have been in camps for more than 10 days before being dumped across the border by Iranian authorities.
Zabihullah, 15, is from Sar Pol province. He says he was arrested along with his friends, most of them of the same age, in Kerman province. They were deported through the Islam Qala border after passing many days and nights in Safed Sang camp.
Ghulam Sakhi was also recently expelled from Iran. He deems the situation for Afghan migrants is very risky in Iran. “Iran has cracked down on Afghan refugees with strict laws that create numerous problems.”
According to Ghulam Sakhi, most Afghan refugees in Iran do not have work permits.
Recently Iranian authorities have started to “regularise” illegal Afghan arrivals in the country. Each person is issued a document that recognises the individual has voluntarily returned to Afghanistan and can come back to Iran with a regular passport and visa.
Ghulam Rasool who was expelled, criticises Iranian authorities for not providing even basic facilities for refugees awaiting deportation.
Ainudeen Aslami of the Ansar camp in Herat confirms the number of deportations has soared. He says the expelled Afghans are being provided with “assistance … but they still have numerous problems.”
For eight years in a row Iran has expelled Afghans who are illegally in the country. Iranian authorities insist the process is voluntary.
Noor Mohammad Zarifi, Member of Parliament from Herat, has expressed his concern about the forced expulsion of Afghans from Iran and pleaded for their gradual exit.
Zarifi’s advise: “The repatriation should take place according to the 1951 UN commission.”
According to estimates, there are 1.5 million Afghans living in Iran; as many as 900,000 are legally in the country.