KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – More than two thousand Afghan refugees were deported or voluntarily returned from Iran and Pakistan on Wednesday, July 17, according to Taliban authorities.
The Taliban Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said in a statement that 1,019 Afghanistan nationals entered the country via western Herat’s Islam Qala crossing, near the Afghanistan-Iran border and 1,193 others were repatriated through Pul-e-Abresham crossing in southwestern Nimruz province, also bordering Iran.
At least 31 people were sent back from Pakistan via the key Torkham border in the eastern Nangarhar province, the statement added.
The ministry also said that after going through a registration process, these people were referred to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to receive assistance.
For decades, Iran and Pakistan have hosted millions of Afghan refugees, fleeing conflict, persecution, economic constraint, and political instability.
However, following the U.S. exit from Afghanistan which led to a swift takeover by the Taliban, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been forced to return by these countries.
According to the UN report, both countries currently host approximately 7.7 million Afghan refugees, with 4.5 million in Iran and 3.2 million in Pakistan.
The implementation of anti-migrant policies and continued crackdowns on undocumented Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan have resulted in the deportation of over a million Afghan refugees, mainly women and children, back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Upon returning to their country, Afghans are faced with worsening economic, humanitarian, and healthcare crises, which have deteriorated since the Taliban’s return to power.
The UN reports that over 23 million people, representing over half of the population, rely on humanitarian assistance this year.
Iran’s and Pakistan’s crackdown on undocumented migrants has drawn sharp criticism from the UN, aid agencies, and human rights groups, who have repeatedly called on the neighboring countries to halt forced deportation and continue supporting refugees.
Pakistani authorities claim that undocumented refugees are a major source of insecurity and illegal activities in their country. They justify the crackdown as a counter-terrorism measure, pointing to the recent surge in security incidents in the country.
So far, Pakistan has deported over 620,000 Afghan nationals after initiating a deportation scheme in October last year.
Pakistani authorities have now moved on to the second phase of refugee expulsions, targeting the deportation of around 840,000 Afghan Citizen Card holders, who were granted Afghan refugee legal status in Pakistan in 2017.
In a recent development, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that Pakistan suspended the deportation of 1.45 million undocumented Afghan refugees following the agency’s chief Filippo Grandi meetings with Pakistani authorities.
The claim was, however, denied by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which reiterated that the expulsion of Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan remains in place and will be “implemented in an orderly and phased manner.”