Iran reports 45% surge in detentions of Afghan migrants as deportation criticism mounts

Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces say detentions of Afghan migrants without legal residency documents have risen sharply, with a 45 percent increase in the first four months of the current year compared to previous periods.

Police spokesperson Saeed Montazerolmahdi said on Sunday that intensified border patrols and heightened security measures have doubled the rate of migrant detentions. “Law enforcement is acting with greater determination in identifying and detaining undocumented Afghan nationals,” he said, adding that roughly 1.14 million Afghans have been deported so far this year.

According to Montazerolmahdi, border surveillance along the Afghanistan frontier has been stepped up, with more than 2,000 patrols conducted daily — a 14 percent increase from last year. Authorities say these operations have prevented at least 2,500 unauthorized Afghan entries.

The sharp rise in detentions and deportations has sparked renewed criticism from rights advocates inside Iran.

On Saturday, the head of Iran’s Association of Social Workers, Hassan Mousavi Chelik, condemned what he called “indiscriminate” deportation policies, alleging that authorities are failing to differentiate between legal and illegal migrants.

Citing specific cases, Chelik said an Iranian child was mistakenly deported as an Afghan and only returned after fingerprint verification at the Iranian consulate. He also reported instances where children from deported Afghan families were left behind in Iran, raising concerns over family separations and the humanitarian impact of the policy.

Iran hosts one of the largest Afghan migrant populations in the world, many of whom fled decades of war, poverty, and instability. But worsening economic conditions, political tensions, and tightened border controls have fueled a wave of expulsions — drawing increasing scrutiny from human rights organizations and migration experts.