Iran’s VP: Deported Afghans can visit diplomatic missions to pursue their claims

Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, Zahra Behrouz Azar, has announced that Afghan citizens deported from Iran can visit the country’s diplomatic missions in Kabul or Herat to pursue their claims of money owed to them.

Zahra acknowledged that some refugees have failed to receive their housing deposits from their landlords, but stressed that this is not a cause for concern.

She said the number of people owed mines is small and the Iranian government is fully prepared to handle such cases.

According to her, refugees in Iran who have failed to receive their housing deposits for any reason can also visit offices in the relevant provinces of Iran and submit legal documents.

The expulsion of Afghan refugees from Iran has intensified in recent weeks. According to reports, more than half a million Afghan refugees have returned to the country from Iran in the past three weeks.

While Iranian officials speak of the “dignified return” of Afghan refugees, many returnees have different stories. Some say that Iranian police did not give them time to collect their belongings and settle their accounts, and they were returned to Afghanistan with nothing in hand.

One returnee said: “I lived in Iran for 24 years. The police would come and ask if we had a card. Some would tear up our passports, some would ask for money. We would give the money we earned, while we were hungry ourselves. This was the situation in Iran. Now we are back. Mashallah, there is peace here and help is available.”

Another returnee said: “They detained our children on their way to work. They also told us that we had to leave. We were detained with the children for two to three days. Then we were released. I had five air conditioners, five refrigerators, a water purifier, carpets and household items, I left everything behind. No one bought them.”

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan emphasizes that it is addressing the problems of deported refugees.

Abdul Salam Hanafi, the administrative deputy of the Prime Minister, said while inspecting the process of transferring returnee refugees in Kabul: “If we stay in someone else’s homeland for a year or ten years, they will eventually tell us to leave. But this is our homeland. We own this country. We will try to rebuild it together.”

The United Nations has warned that by the end of this year, the number of returnees will reach about three million, an issue that, according to the organization, will put a huge strain on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.