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Iran ramps up deportation of Afghan migrants, expels 3,000 a day
Undocumented Afghan nationals living in Khorasan province are identified, detained, and then deported via the Dogharun border
Iran has stepped up its deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants, with up to 3,000 individuals reportedly being sent back to Afghanistan each day.
According to Iran’s Director General of Foreign Nationals and Migrants of Khorasan Razavi, Hossein Sharafati, more than 3,000 Afghans are detained daily and deported through the Dogharun border following legal procedures.
Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, reported that Sharafati said on Saturday that undocumented Afghan nationals living in Khorasan province are identified, detained, and subsequently deported via the Dogharun border.
During a recent visit to Taybad city, Sharafati also inspected a 20-hectare plot of land designated for a new camp intended to hold “unauthorized Afghan nationals.”
This facility, proposed near the Dogharun border in Taybad, is intended to streamline the process of managing and deporting undocumented migrants.
The steep increase in deportations comes after Tehran recently took a stricter stance over undocumented Afghan migrants, after President Masoud Pezeshkian came into power.
In September, the Iranian government announced it would deport two million undocumented foreigners over the next six months. When Iranian officials speak of “illegal foreigners,” they usually mean migrants from Afghanistan.
At the time, Iranian police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan said security forces and the Interior Ministry were working out measures that would deport “a considerable number of illegal foreigners” over the long term.
Iran and Afghanistan share a 900-kilometer long border, parts of which run through inaccessible, high mountain ranges.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates that nearly 4.5 million Afghan nationals currently live in Iran. According to Iranian news agencies, however, the real number could be as high as 6 million or 8 million.
Pakistan says communities living along the Afghanistan-Pakistan Durand Line want peace and stability, despite ongoing security concerns in the region.
Speaking during a weekly media briefing, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said there are no major issues between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, adding that residents on both sides of the Durand Line want peaceful relations and greater regional stability.
However, Andrabi claimed that terrorism originating from Afghan territory continues to undermine peace efforts.
He said Islamabad believes militant activity crossing from Afghanistan remains a significant obstacle to improving regional security and bilateral ties.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has repeatedly rejected such allegations, maintaining that no militant group is allowed to use Afghan soil to threaten neighboring countries.
Andrabi also said Pakistan remains diplomatically engaged on regional matters involving Afghanistan, Iran, India, and Somalia, stressing that dialogue and diplomacy remain Islamabad’s preferred means of resolving disputes.
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Afghanistan-Gambia ties discussed during Doha meeting
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
Suhail Shaheen, head of the Islamic Emirate’s embassy in Doha, has met with Omar Jah, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of The Gambia to Qatar, to discuss bilateral relations and areas of mutual interest.
According to a statement from the Afghan embassy in Doha, Jah also oversees Gambian diplomatic affairs related to Afghanistan.
The meeting focused on Afghanistan-Gambia relations, the current security situation in Afghanistan, and potential investment opportunities in the country.
Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening diplomatic engagement and exploring future economic cooperation.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly and head of the Pakhtunkhwa Awami National Party, has said that if capable statesmen had been in power, people living on both sides of the Durand Line could have moved freely across the line.
Speaking during a podcast interview, Achakzai said that countries with histories of major conflict, including Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom, now maintain far more open borders despite past wars. He said that in many such regions, only a “paper line” remains, with limited border restrictions.
Drawing comparisons with the disputed Durand Line boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Achakzai argued that a similar arrangement could have been possible in South Asia.
“What is the problem here? A Punjabi could dance in Kandahar and a Pashtun could come here. Even if we are not formally one country, we could have effectively functioned like one,” he said.
The Pakistani politician also referred to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the later U.S.-led intervention, saying Afghanistan has the right to seek war reparations from those countries to support reconstruction efforts.
Achakzai further criticised the treatment of Pashtuns in Pakistan, alleging that individuals in cities including Lahore and Karachi have faced detention and deportation.
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