Iran’s detention of Afghan refugees adds to their hardship
Tehran: Iran launched another crackdown to detain Afghan migrants in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, citing security concerns, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
According to Iran’s state-run news agency, ISNA, the police commander of Chabahar, Mohammad Shabik, announced that 123 Afghan nationals were arrested in the Iranian port city.
Earlier, in Hirmand, a district in northern Sistan and Baluchestan near the Afghan border, authorities arrested an additional 152 Afghan migrants.
Afghan refugees in Iran time and again have reported instances of mistreatment and challenges faced due to the restrictions imposed by the Iranian government, reports leading Afghan media outlet Amu TV.
Last year, several incidents were reported where several Afghan refugees were subjected to humiliation and abuse by Iranian police officials and citizens.
Videos were circulating in social media that showed harassment of Afghan migrants, along with anti-Afghan migrant slogans in Iran. The Iranian government further imposed severe restrictions on Afghan refugees that created difficulty for them in earning a stable income.
An Afghan refugee in Iran said, “There is no distinction between people — all of them dislike Afghan migrants, and when arrested by the police, they beat them extensively.”
According to a report by the Iran Human Rights Organization, 80 Afghan prisoners were executed in Iran in 2024, a number that tripled since 2023.
“Unfortunately, the execution of defenceless and oppressed Afghans in Iran is increasing. This is intolerable for the people of Afghanistan and also violates international conventions and standards,” according to the reports by leading Afghan media outlet TOLO news, quoting Afghan Political analyst Fazl-ur-Rahman Oria.
Afghans have suffered more than 40 years of conflict, natural disasters, chronic poverty, food insecurity, the Covid pandemic, and, most recently, a changeover in government authorities.
The events leading up to the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 intensified instability, causing displacement.
Globally, nearly 10.9 million Afghans remained displaced, almost all within their country or in neighbouring countries, due to conflict, violence, and poverty, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.