UN sees ‘alarming' surge in Afghan families deported from Iran
There was a 'sharp rise in the forced return of Afghan nationals' from Iran in May, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement, adding, 'Particularly alarming is a significant surge in the number of families being deported.'
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Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Nearly 700,000 Afghans driven out of Iran return to uncertain future
Hajjar Shademani's family waited for hours in the heat and dust after crossing the border into Afghanistan, their neat pile of suitcases all that remained of a lifetime in Iran after being deported to their homeland. The 19-year-old and her three siblings are among tens of thousands of Afghans who have crossed the Islam Qala border point in recent days, the majority forced to leave, according to the United Nations and Taliban authorities. Despite being born in Iran after her parents fled war 40 years ago, Shademani said the country 'never accepted us.' When police came to her family's home in Shiraz city and ordered them to leave, they had no choice. But Afghanistan is also alien to her. 'We don't have anything here,' she told AFP in English. Between Iranian universities that would not accept her and the Taliban government, which has banned education for women, Shademani's studies are indefinitely on hold. 'I really love studying... I wanted to continue but in Afghanistan, I think I cannot.' At Herat province's Islam Qala crossing, the checkpoint is usually busy handling everything from smuggling to deportation as young men seek work in Iran. But since Tehran ordered Afghans without the right to remain to leave by July 6, the number of returnees—especially families—has surged. More than 230,000 departed in June alone, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Since January, more than 690,000 Afghans have left Iran, '70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back,' IOM spokesperson Avand Azeez Agha told AFP. Of the more than a dozen returnees AFP spoke to, none said they had fled the recent Iran–Israel conflict, though it may have ramped up pressure. Arrests, however, had helped spur their departures. Yadullah Alizada had only the clothes on his back and a cracked phone to call his family when he stepped off one of the many buses unloading people at the IOM-run reception center. The 37-year-old said he was arrested while working as a day laborer and held at a detention camp before being deported to Afghanistan. Forced to leave without his family or belongings, he slept on a bit of cardboard at the border, determined to stay until his family could join him. 'My three kids are back there, they're all sick right now, and they don't know how to get here.' He hopes to find work in his home province of Daikundi, but in a country wracked by entrenched poverty and unemployment, he faces an uphill climb. The UN mission for Afghanistan, UNAMA, has warned that the influx of deportees—many arriving with 'no assets, limited access to services, and no job prospects'—risks further destabilizing the crisis-wracked country. Long lines snaked into tents encircling the reception center where returnees accessed UN, NGO, and government services. Gusty wind whipped women's Iranian-style hijabs and young men's trendy outfits, clothing that stood out against the shalwar kameez that has become ubiquitous in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power in 2021, imposing their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi inspected the site on Saturday, striding through the crowd surrounded by a heavily armed entourage and pledging to ensure 'that no Afghan citizen is denied their rights in Iran' and that seized or abandoned assets would be returned. Taliban authorities have consistently called for 'dignified' treatment of the migrants and refugees hosted in Iran and Pakistan, the latter having also ousted hundreds of thousands of Afghans since the latest decades-long war ended. Over one million Afghans have already returned to Afghanistan this year from both neighboring countries. The numbers are only expected to rise, even as foreign aid is slashed and the Taliban government struggles for cash and international recognition. The IOM said it can only serve a fraction of the returnees, with four million Afghans potentially impacted by Iran's deadline. Some of the most vulnerable pass through the agency's transit center in Herat city, where they can get a hot meal, a night's rest, and assistance on their way. But at the clean and shaded compound, Bahara Rashidi was still worried about what would become of her and her eight sisters back in Afghanistan. They had smuggled themselves into Iran to make a living after their father died. 'There is no man in our family who can work here, and we don't have a home or money,' the 19-year-old told AFP. 'We have nothing.'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Israel's defense chief threatens to retaliate for Houthi missiles
Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to retaliate against Iran-aligned Houthi militia after his country's military intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory. 'The fate of Yemen is the same as that of Tehran,' Katz said in a statement, referring to last month's 12-day conflict during which Israel targeted Iran's nuclear and missile programs. 'After striking the head of the snake in Tehran, we will also strike the Houthis in Yemen. Whoever raises a hand against Israel—that hand will be cut off,' the statement said. The Houthi militia claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released late on Tuesday. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group carried out four operations targeting an airport and other 'sensitive' Israeli targets. Israel has threatened the Houthi militia—which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza—with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist. Since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade. Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes. Mike Huckabee, US President Donald Trump's ambassador to Israel, posted on X: 'We thought we were done with missiles coming to Israel, but Houthis just lit one up over us in Israel. Fortunately, Israel's incredible interception system means we go to the shelter & wait until all clear. Maybe those B2 bombers need to visit Yemen!'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump urges 60-day Gaza ceasefire deal ahead of Netanyahu visit
US President Donald Trump urged Hamas on Tuesday to accept a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, saying that Israel had agreed to finalize such a deal, as its forces also stepped up operations in the Palestinian territory. Trump, in a post on social media, said his representatives had met with Israeli officials about the raging conflict, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington next week. 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,' Trump wrote. He said representatives of Qatar and Egypt, mediators in the conflict, would deliver 'this final proposal.' 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better—it will only get worse,' he added. Trump earlier on Tuesday said he would be 'very firm' with Netanyahu when they meet on July 7. The end of Israel's 12-day war with Iran—which followed a US bombing mission on Tehran's nuclear sites—has provided a window of opportunity for a deal, with Trump keen to add another peace agreement to a series of recent deals he has brokered. Israel's campaign meanwhile continued to rage on, with Gaza's civil defense agency reporting Israeli forces killed at least 26 people on Tuesday. In response to reports of deadly strikes in the north and south of the territory, the Israeli army told AFP it was 'operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities.' Separately, it said Tuesday morning that in recent days it had 'expanded its operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip, eliminating dozens of terrorists and dismantling hundreds of terror infrastructure sites both above and below ground.' Raafat Halles, 39, from the Shujaiya district of Gaza City, said 'air strikes and shelling have intensified over the past week,' and tanks have been advancing. 'I believe that every time negotiations or a potential ceasefire are mentioned, the army escalates crimes and massacres on the ground,' he said. 'I don't know why.' AFP photographers saw Israeli tanks deploying at the Gaza border in southern Israel and children picking through the rubble of a destroyed home in Gaza City. Others photographed Palestinians mourning over the bodies of relatives in the city's al-Shifa hospital and the al-Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. The Red Cross warned that Gaza's few functioning medical facilities were overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals 'shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions' on supplies. 'The International Committee of the Red Cross is deeply alarmed by the intensifying hostilities in Gaza City and Jabaliya, which have reportedly caused dozens of deaths and injuries among civilians over the past 36 hours,' the ICRC said in a statement. Gaza's civil defense service said 16 people were killed near aid distribution sites in central and southern Gaza on Tuesday, in the latest in a spate of deadly attacks on those seeking food, with 10 others killed in other Israeli operations. Commenting on the incidents, the Israeli military told AFP its forces 'fired warning shots to distance suspects who approached the troops,' adding it was not aware of any injuries but would review the incidents. Referring to an incident in Rafah, it said the shots were fired 'hundreds of meters (yards) away from the aid distribution site,' which was 'not operating.' Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers. – Aid reform call – A group of 169 aid organizations called Monday for an end to Gaza's 'deadly' new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme which they said was leading to civilian deaths. They urged a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that existed until March, when Israel imposed a full blockade on humanitarian assistance entering Gaza during an impasse in truce talks with Hamas. The new scheme's administrator, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has distanced itself from reports of aid seekers being killed near its centers. Netanyahu announced he would visit Trump and senior US security officials next week, amid mounting pressure to end the devastating fighting in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages home. Trump, while visiting a migrant detention center in Florida, said Netanyahu 'wants to end it too.' Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP the group is 'ready to agree to any proposal if it will lead to an end to the war and a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of occupation forces.' 'So far, there has been no breakthrough.'
