Thousands of Afghans crossing border to Iran daily: officials

Thousands of Afghans are migrating to Iran every day, local officials in the border province of Herat said on Saturday.

More than 2,000 Afghans enter the neighboring country legally through Islam Qala border crossing daily, officials said. Hundreds more cross the border without having travel documents.

Most of the migrants leave Afghanistan in search of work or economic opportunities.
“We work here from morning to evening, but we don’t get even 200 afghanis, so we have to go to Iran and then to other countries,” said Mohammad Arif, a resident of Faryab.

Humayon Hemat, deputy of Islam Qala Commissary, said there are also those who leave to seek medical treatment.

While the level of migration from Afghanistan to Iran has increased in recent months, hundreds return every day, both voluntarily and involuntarily.

“We were in Iran for one year. They warned they would fine us if we did not leave. So we thought to leave and come back with passports,” said Noor Rahim, an Afghan returnee.

Officials said that dozens of Afghan families return from Iran voluntarily.

Iran shares a 900-kilometre border with Afghanistan and hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world, made up mostly of Afghans who have arrived over the past 40 years. Some 3.6 million Afghans reside in the neighboring country.