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Homeland Security is removing protections that kept some Afghans from deportation
Homeland Security is removing protections that kept some Afghans from deportation

CTV News

time14-07-2025

  • 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

Around 30,000 Afghans returning daily from Iran, say Herat officials
Around 30,000 Afghans returning daily from Iran, say Herat officials

Times of Oman

time12-07-2025

  • 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.

WHO warns of rising spread of infectious diseases among deported Afghan migrants
WHO warns of rising spread of infectious diseases among deported Afghan migrants

Times of Oman

time11-07-2025

  • 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.

A million more Afghans could be sent back from Iran, Red Cross warns
A million more Afghans could be sent back from Iran, Red Cross warns

CTV News

time08-07-2025

  • Politics
  • CTV News

A million more Afghans could be sent back from Iran, Red Cross warns

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict gather at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Omid Haqjoo) GENEVA - The Red Cross said on Tuesday it is bracing for another 1 million people to be sent back from Iran to Afghanistan amid mass deportations that humanitarians say are placing a heavy strain on the aid system. Over 1.2 million people have been returned to Afghanistan from Iran since the start of this year, according to data from the UN refugee agency, with the number of returns surging since Iran and Israel launched strikes on each other last month. Sami Fakhouri, head of delegation for Afghanistan at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said he witnessed bus loads of people returning to a border crossing at the Islam Qala border in Herat province in recent days. '(We) are anticipating that an additional one million people, possibly more, may return from Iran to Afghanistan by the end of this year,' he told reporters at a Geneva press briefing, voicing concern about their futures with many having left their home country years ago and were now homeless. 'The majority didn't have a say in coming back. They were put on buses and driven to the border,' he said. Afghanistan is already battling a humanitarian crisis and aid groups worry that the new arrivals from Iran - on top of hundreds of thousands pressured to return from Pakistan - risks further destabilizing the country. Fakhouri said the IFRC appeal for 25 million Swiss francs (US$31.40 million) to help returning Afghans at the border and in transit camps is only 10% funded, voicing concerns about whether it could maintain support for people. Babar Baloch, a spokesperson at the UN refugee agency, said tens of thousands were arriving from Iran daily with over 50,000 crossing on July 4. He also voiced concerns about family separations. 'The psychological scars are going to stay with Afghans who have been made to come back to the country in this way,' he said at the same press briefing. Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Reuters

Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran
Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran

Arab News

time07-07-2025

  • Politics
  • Arab News

Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran

KABUL: Ahmad Nazir had nothing with him except his work clothes when he reached the Islam Qala border crossing and entered Afghanistan, forced, like hundreds of thousands of others, to suddenly leave Iran. Nazir, 24, has worked at a restaurant in Tehran for the past four years. He arrived at Islam Qala — part of the main route connecting Afghanistan's Herat and Iran's Mashhad — on July 6, which was the deadline that Iranian authorities set for undocumented Afghans to leave. 'Two days ago, the Iranian police took me from the restaurant and put me on a bus to Islam Qala. I came with nothing but my work clothes,' he told Arab News. A native of the central Parwan province — some 600 km from Herat — Nazir is now waiting for his family to help him return home. He is one of nearly 450,000 Afghans who returned to the country since June, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration and local nongovernmental organizations helping the returnees. 'Approximately 30,000 Afghans are returning from Iran each day through the Islam Qala border crossing, and most are forcibly deported. They include both undocumented refugees and Afghans with legal documents,' said Abdul Fatah Jawad, director of the Ehsas Welfare and Social Services Organization, which is providing help in Herat province. 'Most families arriving at the Islam Qala border crossing have no tents, forcing many to improvise makeshift shelters to shield themselves and their children from the scorching sun. They wait in these harsh conditions for their turn to receive limited cash assistance before continuing on to their home provinces.' Many have nowhere to go as they moved to Iran decades ago with their whole families. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities, which have vowed to support all those returning, do not have the means and funding to do so. 'The people of Herat have shown tremendous support, offering food and transportation to returning families,' Jawad said. 'Ehsas is providing cooked meals and water to up to 3,000 people each day, but this support is far from sufficient given the scale of new arrivals. A significantly broader and more urgent response is needed from the government, international organizations, and those with the means to contribute. This is a humanitarian crisis of much greater magnitude.' The exodus from Iran is worsening a crisis caused by a similar deportation drive that has been underway in Pakistan since last year. The two countries have hosted millions of Afghans fleeing war and poverty at home for the past 40 years. Official estimates suggest that over 4 million Afghan nationals were living in Pakistan, while in Iran, the figure is around 6 million, with 4 million believed to be undocumented. In 2025 alone, more than 900,000 Afghan refugees and migrants have been forced to leave both countries, pushing local systems to the brink of collapse and jeopardizing access to vital services for both returnees and the communities that host them. While many Afghans have fled the Israeli bombing of Iranian cities in mid-June, the directive for undocumented migrants to depart voluntarily has been in place since March. Iranian authorities ordered them to comply by July 6 or face deportation. Many of those returning through Islam Qala, the main border crossing, are completely unprepared to move. Some were born in Iran and have never lived in Afghanistan. Islamuddin Momini, a university lecturer from Herat who joined a convoy delivering aid to the returnees in Islam Qala, said the situation was 'extremely grim,' with many people arriving visibly traumatized. 'They are living in a state of psychological shock, compounded by severe shortages of food, water, and shelter,' Momini told Arab News. 'Upon returning to their home provinces, returnees will face a new set of challenges, including limited access to employment, education, and livelihood opportunities. Addressing these medium to long-term needs requires comprehensive support systems to facilitate their reintegration into society — an especially difficult task amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis and prevailing restrictions.'

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