Latest news with #Herat
New York Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
As Iran Deports a Million Afghans, ‘Where Do We Even Go?'
At the sand-swept border between Iran and Afghanistan, nearly 20,000 are crossing every day — shocked and fearful Afghans who have been expelled from Iran with few belongings in a wave of targeted crackdowns and xenophobia. More than 1.4 million Afghans have fled or been deported from Iran since January during a government clampdown on undocumented refugees, according to the United Nations' Refugees agency. More than half a million have been forced into Afghanistan just since the war between Israel and Iran last month, returned to a homeland already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis and draconian restrictions on women and girls, in one of the worst displacement crisis of the past decade. They are being dumped at an overcrowded border facility in western Afghanistan, where many expressed anger and confusion to New York Times journalists over how they could go on with few prospects in a country where some have never lived, or barely know anymore. 'I worked in Iran for 42 years, so hard that my knees are broken, and for what?' Mohammad Akhundzada, a construction worker, said at a processing center for returnees in Islam Qala, a border town in northwestern Afghanistan, near Herat. Iran Islam Qala border crossing Afghanistan Herat 50 miles TurkmenISTAN Kabul Detail area Iran AFGHANISTAN PakISTAN 200 miles By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Asharq Al-Awsat
15-07-2025
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
The Scale of Afghans Returning from Iran is Overwhelming, Says UN Official
The pace and scale of Afghans returning from Iran are overwhelming already fragile support systems, a senior UN official warned Tuesday, with tens of thousands of people crossing the border daily exhausted and traumatized, relying on humanitarian aid. So far this year, more than 1.4 million people have returned or been forced to return to Afghanistan, including over 1 million from Iran. Iran and Pakistan in 2023 launched separate campaigns to expel foreigners they said were living in the country illegally. They set deadlines and threatened them with deportation if they didn't leave. The two governments deny targeting Afghans, who have fled their homeland over the decades to escape war, poverty or Taliban rule, The AP news reported. The UN special representative for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, called for immediate international support for Afghanistan following a visit to the Islam Qala border crossing in western Herat province near Iran. The 'sheer volume of returns —many abrupt, many involuntary,' should be setting off alarm bells across the global community, Otunbayeva said. 'Without swift interventions, remittance losses, labor market pressures and cyclical migration will lead to devastating consequences such as the further destabilization of both returnee and host populations, renewed displacement, mass onward movement, and risks to regional stability,' she said. Returns from Iran peaked in June following a 20 March government deadline requiring all 'undocumented' Afghans to leave. The UN migration agency recorded more than 28,000 people crossing back into Afghanistan on June 25. Afghanistan is a 'forgotten crisis' Most Afghans depend on humanitarian assistance to survive. But deep funding cuts are worsening the situation, with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations forced to cut education and health care programs. Nicole van Batenburg, from the International Federation of the Red Cross, said Afghan children returning from Iran are developing scabies, fever and other illnesses because of deteriorating conditions at the border and the hot weather. Her colleagues were reuniting hundreds of children daily who got separated from their parents. People lost their belongings and documents in the chaos of hasty exits. Most were only able to take a few suitcases with them, and some were now using their luggage as makeshift furniture. 'Afghanistan is an unseen crisis, and there are so many crises going on at this moment in the world that it seems to be forgotten,' van Batenburg told The Associated Press by phone from the border. 'The problems and the challenges are immense. We're only talking about the situation here at the border, but these people have to return to some areas where they can live longer and where they can rebuild their lives.' Last week, the Norwegian Refugee Council said many of its staff were hosting returning families in their homes. Authorities were doing their best to mobilize the few resources they had, but local systems were not equipped to cope with 'such tremendous' needs.
CTV News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Homeland Security is removing protections that kept some Afghans from deportation
Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict line up at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo) WASHINGTON — Temporary measures that allowed nearly 12,000 Afghans to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation are expiring Monday as part of the Trump administration's efforts to make more people eligible for removal from the country. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in May said it was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 11,700 people from Afghanistan in 60 days. That status had allowed them to work and meant the government couldn't deport them. The number of Afghans protected by TPS is relatively small compared to the overall number of Afghans — about 180,000 — who have fled Afghanistan and come to the U.S. since the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021. It's also not clear how many of those 11,7000 covered by TPS have applied for or received other forms of protection like asylum that would keep them from being deported after Monday. But the removal of the protective status for Afghans has struck a chord with many advocates and volunteers because of the suggestion that it is safe for Afghans — many who helped the U.S. during its two-decade long war there — to go home. 'Since so many of those losing their protections served alongside U.S. forces, we should honor that service by upholding our promise to provide safety and ensure that they have an opportunity to thrive here. We urge Congress to protect Afghans by providing them permanent status – a commitment that is long overdue," Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum, said in a news release Monday. At the time that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ended the temporary protected status for Afghans, the department wrote in the decision that the situation in their home country was getting better. 'The Secretary determined that, overall, there are notable improvements in the security and economic situation such that requiring the return of Afghan nationals to Afghanistan does not pose a threat to their personal safety due to armed conflict or extraordinary and temporary conditions,' according to the May announcement. Temporary Protected Status can be granted by the U.S. Homeland Security secretary to people of various nationalities who are in the United States. They can't be deported and can work legally but they don't have a pathway to citizenship. The status is inherently precarious because it is up to the U.S. Homeland Security secretary to renew the protections regularly — usually every 18 months. The first Trump administration tried to remove many of these temporary protected statuses but was largely foiled by the courts. This time around, the Trump administration has moved even more aggressively to remove the protections, thus making more people eligible for removal from the country. The administration has pushed to remove temporary protected status from people from seven countries with Venezuela and Haiti making up the biggest chunk of the hundreds of thousands of people losing their protections. Critics say that successive administrations essentially rubber-stamped these renewals regardless, and people covered by what's supposed to be a temporary status end up staying in the United States for years. CASA, a nonprofit immigrant advocates group, sued the administration over the TPS revocation for Afghans as well as for people from Cameroon - those expire August 4. A federal judge last Friday allowed the lawsuit to go forward but didn't grant CASA's request to keep the protections in place while the lawsuit plays out. Rebecca Santana, The Associated Press
Times of Oman
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Around 30,000 Afghans returning daily from Iran, say Herat officials
Herat: Government officials have established facilities at the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat to help manage the increasing influx of Afghan returnees from Iran, with nearly half a million people having re-entered the country in just the past 20 days, TOLO News reported. The Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, Hamdullah Fitrat, visited Islam Qala and urged both the private sector and general public to assist with humanitarian support. "My call to all citizens, traders, and wealthy individuals is to come forward and join the Islamic Emirate in showing solidarity and compassion with these people," TOLO News quoted Fitrat as saying. According to local officials in Herat, an estimated 30,000 people are entering Afghanistan daily through the Islam Qala border. Abdul Ghani Kamil, the head of committees at Islam Qala and district governor of Kohsan, said: "Based on what we have seen over the past 15 to 20 days, nearly 500,000 migrants have likely returned, as around 30,000 people enter the country every day," TOLO News reported. Many of the returnees cited the harsh living conditions in Iran as their reason for returning and called on the caretaker government to provide employment opportunities. "We no longer intend to go to foreign countries. Even if we eat only a piece of bread, we want to live in our own country with dignity and honor," said Ahmad Zia, a returnee from Iran, in comments to TOLO News. Another returnee, Matiullah, echoed similar sentiments. "If these youth are provided with jobs, none of them will leave the country. They will work in their homeland and stay where they belong," TOLO News quoted him as saying. According to TOLO News, local officials in Herat reported that between 20,000 to 25,000 migrants return daily through Islam Qala alone. National figures also show that more than 4,000 Afghan migrants are returning daily through other major border points, including the Silk Bridge in Nimroz, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, and Torkham in Nangarhar, from both Iran and Pakistan.
Times of Oman
11-07-2025
- Health
- Times of Oman
WHO warns of rising spread of infectious diseases among deported Afghan migrants
Kabul: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning regarding the rising spread of infectious diseases among Afghan migrants deported from neighbouring nations amid poor sanitary conditions, Khaama Press reported. The WHO emphasised the need to enhance medical resources and staff capacity to address the increasing health risks. WHO has reported a rise in respiratory infections, skin conditions like scabies, diarrhoea and suspected COVID-19 cases among those deported from neighbouring nations. The ground assessments carried out at key border points, especially Islam Qala in Herat Province, reveal that upper respiratory infections are the most common diseases spread, followed by diarrhoea and dehydration, particularly among children and the elderly. Suspected cases of scabies and COVID-19 have also been reported among deported Afghan migrants. In response to the spread of diseases, the WHO has launched emergency health screenings and mass vaccination campaigns in collaboration with local health authorities at Islam Qala and Spin Boldak border crossings. These initiatives have been launched to stop further outbreaks and provide critical care to vulnerable people. According to the WHO, more than 8,700 children received oral polio vaccines, and over 8,300 individuals received injectable polio vaccines at the Islam Qala crossing. Thousands of deported children have been vaccinated against measles in high-risk border areas, Khaama Press reported. Nearly 29,000 people have been screened or vaccinated at major border points, including Spin Boldak, Torkham, and Islam Qala. WHO mobile health teams have been deployed at reception centres and zero-point borders and are conducting daily health checks on hundreds of returnees. WHO has identified over 840 people showing symptoms of infectious disease, all of whom received immediate medical care. It emphasised the need to increase medical resources and staff capacity to address the growing health risks, according to Khaama Press reported. As the number of Afghan migrants being deported by neighbouring nations continues to increase, the WHO called for expanded funding and coordinated efforts required to prevent large-scale disease outbreaks and provide adequate care for returnees in crisis.
