An Iranian border commander has said that in the last 24 hours, 4,767 “illegal” Afghan immigrants have been returned to Afghanistan through the Milak border crossing in Sistan and Baluchistan province.

The reasons for the deportation of the immigrants were said to be “illegal entry and stay and expiry of passports”.

Parviz Ghasemzadeh, Iran’s border commander for that area told Iran’s Tasnim news agency that foreign nationals must go through legal channels to enter, stay and leave Iran.

He warned that if foreigners enter Iran illegally, they will be handed over to the authorities and deported from the country.

Ghasemzadeh added that “combating the illegal residence of unauthorized foreigners in Sistan and Baluchistan is seriously on the agenda.”

He also said the negative consequences, such as social problems and crime caused by “illegal” migrants will be dealt with seriously in order to manage these issues.

Iran’s General Director of Foreign Nationals and Immigrant Affairs, Khorasan Razavi, said recently that more than 90,000 Afghans have returned home this year through the Dogharun Taybad border.

Based on the statistics of the International Organization for Migration, after the rule of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, about 3.6 million Afghans have left the country, of which 70% have gone to Iran.