KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The Islamic Republic of Iran plans to deport approximately two million undocumented foreign nationals by the end of the current Persian year, March 2025, according to the Iranian police chief.
As reported by the Iranian state news outlet, Ahmad Reza Radan, the head of Iran’s national police forces, said during a press briefing today that the exact number of undocumented foreign nationals in the country has been identified.
For decades, the Islamic Republic has hosted millions of Afghan refugees fleeing conflict, persecution, and unemployment in their home country.
According to the UN, there are 4.5 million Afghan refugees in Iran, with over half being undocumented and unregistered. However, Iranian authorities claim the number exceeds 5 million.
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 worsened the country’s already dire humanitarian situation, prompting thousands to flee daily, primarily to neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
Two days ago, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that over 96,000 Afghans had left their country in the past week, with nearly 68,000 going to Iran and over 28,000 to Pakistan.
In recent years, both Iran and Pakistan have intensified their crackdowns on Afghan refugees, deporting tens of thousands back to Afghanistan despite the worsening humanitarian, human rights, and economic crises under Taliban rule.
Since the new government led by President Masoud Pezeshkian took power in Iran, pressure on Afghan migrants has intensified. Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized that undocumented Afghans will be expelled.
In an interview last night, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that the influx of Afghan migrants is becoming intolerable for Iran.
He mentioned that they are planning to address the Afghan migrant issue promptly and without making impulsive decisions.
The Iranian Interior Minister clarified that the “priority is for those who enter illegally and unlawfully” and emphasized the need for migrants to “respect the mechanisms of the host country.” He further said that Afghan migrants are contributing to rising unemployment in Iran, claiming that “a lot of job opportunities are being taken away.”
Meanwhile, human rights organizations and activists have repeatedly criticized the treatment of Afghan migrants by Iranian police and ordinary citizens, noting that this mistreatment has intensified in recent months across the country.
The Iranian human rights group Hengaw has warned about the increasing government and societal racism toward Afghan migrants, describing the situation as “catastrophic.”
“In recent weeks, there has been a surge of violence and hostility against Afghan migrants in the capital and several districts of Tehran. In many cases, Afghan migrants have faced insults, humiliation, beatings, and knife attacks from Iranian citizens,” the rights group said.
The rights group noted that Afghan migrants are barred from residing in 16 provinces of Iran and, outside of Tehran, Alborz, and Qom, they are only allowed to stay in specific districts.
