Almost 30,000 Afghan refugees return from Iran in last 3 weeks

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) says in the last three weeks, more than 12,500 people entered Afghanistan through the Islam Qala border and nearly 16,000 Afghan migrants entered Afghanistan through the Nimroz border.

According to MoRR, most of the returnees went to Iran illegally and were without their families. Many were also deported from Iran.

“We request all countries not to relate the issues of immigrants to politics; the rights given to immigrants by Islam and the world must be respected,” said Mohammad Arsala Kharoti, deputy refugees minister.

Some returning immigrants have said they are back home but want the government to provide job opportunities for them.

A number of experts meanwhile have said that Iran is not so keen on hosting Afghan migrants as sanctions imposed on Tehran by the West is having an impact on their economy.

“There are still financial and unemployment problems in Afghanistan and many are unemployed and cannot support their families,” said Sara Rahmani, an immigrant affairs expert.

“They are forced to leave Afghanistan and migrate to neighboring countries,” she added.

Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani, minister of refugees, also said that efforts are underway to free Afghan prisoners from prisons in Pakistan and China.

“The office of the prime minister has ordered us to start work on releasing Afghan refugees, and this ministry is ready to make any sacrifices for the release of Afghan prisoners,” said Haqqani.

According to reports, more than 1.86 million Afghan immigrants have returned to Afghanistan from different countries, including Iran, over the past year.