Afghanistan: Karzai Administration Chides Iran on Refugee Policy

The Afghan government and aid agencies have called on Iran to halt -- or at least drastically modify -- the deportation of Afghans from its territory during winter.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been forcibly returned in recent weeks and the impoverished, war-torn state is ill-prepared to handle the influx, officials warn. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "Large-scale expulsions during the cold season will push our country into a humanitarian crisis," Abdul Matin Edrak, director of the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority, told IRIN, a news agency operating under the auspices of the United Nations.

Many forced returnees are entering Herat Province, passing through the Islam Qala border point. The Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said more than 360,000 individuals, mostly young men seeking work, have been forced out of Iran over the past seven months. Afghan leaders have warned that dire poverty, widespread unemployment and lack of government capacity is exposing many returning Afghans to exploitation on the part of criminal groups and extremist networks.