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Business Recorder
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM
ISLAM QALA: More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. The number of returns from Iran rose dramatically in recent weeks. Afghans have reported increased deportations ahead of the July 6 deadline announced by Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organization for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. Since January, '691,049 people have returned, 70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back', he added. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said, with numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline. Afghans spilled into an IOM-run reception centre out of buses arriving back-to-back at the Islam Qala border point in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday. The recent returns have been marked by a sharp increase in the number of families instead of individuals, the UN said, with men, women and children lugging suitcases carrying all their belongings. Many have few assets and few prospects for work, with Afghanistan facing entrenched poverty and steep unemployment. The country is four years into a fragile recovery from decades of war under Taliban authorities, who have called for a 'dignified' return of migrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Over 200,000 returned to Afghanistan in past nine weeks: interior ministry Kabul's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi raised the Taliban government's concerns in a meeting with Iran's ambassador, according to a statement, saying: 'A coordinated mechanism should be put in place for the gradual return of migrants.' The cash-strapped government faces challenges in integrating the influx of returnees, which has piled on to hundreds of thousands also forced out in recent years from Pakistan – another traditional host of Afghans fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. Severe international aid cuts have also hamstrung UN and NGO responses, with the IOM saying it was 'only able to assist a fraction of those in need'. 'On some high-volume days, such as recently at Islam Qala, assistance reached as few as three percent of undocumented returnees,' it said in a recent statement. Returnees AFP spoke to in recent days at the border cited mounting pressure by Iranian authorities and increased deportations, with none pointing to the recent Iran-Israel conflict as a spur to leave the country. However, 'regional instability – particularly the fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict – and shifting host country policies have accelerated returns, overwhelming Afghanistan's already fragile humanitarian and development systems', the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in a statement. Samiullah Ahmadi, 28, was seeing his country of origin for the first time when he crossed the border. Unsure of what he would do once he reached the Afghan capital Kabul with his family, he was defiant in response to the pressures to return. 'I was born there (Iran). But the situation for Afghans is such that no matter how good you are or even if you have valid documents, they still don't treat you with respect.'
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM - Region
More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday. The number of returns from Iran rose dramatically in recent weeks. Afghans have reported increased deportations ahead of the July 6 deadline announced by Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organisation for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. Since January, "691,049 people have returned, 70 per cent of whom were forcibly sent back", he added. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said, with numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline. Afghans spilt into an IOM-run reception centre out of buses arriving back-to-back at the Islam Qala border point in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday. The recent returns have been marked by a sharp increase in the number of families instead of individuals, the UN said, with men, women and children lugging suitcases carrying all their belongings. Many have few assets and few prospects for work, with Afghanistan facing entrenched poverty and steep unemployment. The country is four years into a fragile recovery from decades of war under Taliban authorities, who have called for a "dignified" return of migrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Kabul's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi raised the Taliban government's concerns in a meeting with Iran's ambassador, according to a statement, saying: "A coordinated mechanism should be put in place for the gradual return of migrants." The cash-strapped government faces challenges in integrating the influx of returnees, which has piled on to hundreds of thousands, also forced out in recent years from Pakistan -- another traditional host of Afghans fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. Severe international aid cuts have also hamstrung UN and NGO responses, with the IOM saying it was "only able to assist a fraction of those in need". "On some high-volume days, such as recently at Islam Qala, assistance reached as few as three per cent of undocumented returnees," it said in a recent statement. Returnees AFP spoke to in recent days at the border cited mounting pressure by Iranian authorities and increased deportations, with none pointing to the recent Iran-Israel conflict as a spur to leave the country. However, "regional instability -- particularly the fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict -- and shifting host country policies have accelerated returns, overwhelming Afghanistan's already fragile humanitarian and development systems", the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in a statement. Samiullah Ahmadi, 28, was seeing his country of origin for the first time when he crossed the border. Unsure of what he would do once he reached the Afghan capital Kabul with his family, he was defiant in response to the pressures to return. "I was born there (Iran). But the situation for Afghans is such that no matter how good you are or even if you have valid documents, they still don't treat you with respect." Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
France 24
a day ago
- Politics
- France 24
'We have nothing': Afghans driven out of Iran return to uncertain future
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 the cycle of 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 on Saturday, none said they had fled the recent Iran-Israel conflict, though it may have ramped up pressure. Arrests, however, had helped spur their departures. Few prospects 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 centre. The 37-year-old said he was arrested while working as a day labourer 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 destabilising the crisis-wracked country. Long lines snaked into tents encircling the reception centre 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. 'Have nothing' Over one million Afghans have already returned to Afghanistan this year from both neighbouring 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 says 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 centre 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." © 2025 AFP
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
'We Have Nothing': 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 the cycle of 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 on Saturday, 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 centre. The 37-year-old said he was arrested while working as a day labourer 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 destabilising the crisis-wracked country. Long lines snaked into tents encircling the reception centre 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 neighbouring 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 says 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 centre 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." Since January, more than 690,000 Afghans have left Iran, most of them forcibly deported AFP A Taliban security official stands on back of a vehicle as Afghan refugees arrive at the Islam Qala border crossing with Iran AFP Iran ordered Afghans without the right to remain to leave by July 6, triggering a mass exodus AFP The UN mission for Afghanistan has warned that the influx of deportees risks further destabilising the crisis-wracked country AFP
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Over 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June ahead of return deadline: IOM
The number of returns from Iran rose dramatically in recent weeks. Afghans have reported increased deportations ahead of the July 6 deadline announced by Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. From June 1-28, 233,941 people returned from Iran to Afghanistan, International Organization for Migration spokesman Avand Azeez Agha told AFP, with 131,912 returns recorded in the week of June 21-28 alone. Since January, "691,049 people have returned, 70 percent of whom were forcibly sent back", he added. For several days last week, the number reached 30,000 per day, the IOM said, with numbers expected to increase ahead of the deadline. Afghans spilled into an IOM-run reception centre out of buses arriving back-to-back at the Islam Qala border point in western Afghanistan's Herat province on Saturday. The recent returns have been marked by a sharp increase in the number of families instead of individuals, the UN said, with men, women and children lugging suitcases carrying all their belongings. Many have few assets and few prospects for work, with Afghanistan facing entrenched poverty and steep unemployment. The country is four years into a fragile recovery from decades of war under Taliban authorities, who have called for a "dignified" return of migrants and refugees from neighbouring countries. Kabul's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi raised the Taliban government's concerns in a meeting with Iran's ambassador, according to a statement, saying: "A coordinated mechanism should be put in place for the gradual return of migrants." The cash-strapped government faces challenges in integrating the influx of returnees, which has piled on to hundreds of thousands also forced out in recent years from Pakistan -- another traditional host of Afghans fleeing conflict and humanitarian crises. Severe international aid cuts have also hamstrung UN and NGO responses, with the IOM saying it was "only able to assist a fraction of those in need". "On some high-volume days, such as recently at Islam Qala, assistance reached as few as three percent of undocumented returnees," it said in a recent statement. Returnees AFP spoke to in recent days at the border cited mounting pressure by Iranian authorities and increased deportations, with none pointing to the recent Iran-Israel conflict as a spur to leave the country. However, "regional instability -- particularly the fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict -- and shifting host country policies have accelerated returns, overwhelming Afghanistan's already fragile humanitarian and development systems", the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said in a statement. Samiullah Ahmadi, 28, was seeing his country of origin for the first time when he crossed the border. Unsure of what he would do once he reached the Afghan capital Kabul with his family, he was defiant in response to the pressures to return. "I was born there (Iran). But the situation for Afghans is such that no matter how good you are or even if you have valid documents, they still don't treat you with respect." © 2025 AFP
