Afghanistan: Iran Forcing Afghan Refugees to Return

Afghan politicians have sharply criticized the Iranian government for deporting more than 8,850 Afghans during the past week.

Amanullah Atif, the director of returnees of Nimroz province, told Pajhwok, an Afghan news agency, that Afghan youths and families were being pushed across the border via the Abrishim Bridge at a rate of 1,000 per day. More than 30,000 Afghans have been forced out of Iran since October.

Unemployment, high prices and the security situation had forced them to seek work and better conditions in Iran, said Atif. He warned Afghanistan did not have the funds or infrastructure to accommodate the forced returnees. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Saliha Merzad, an MP for Nimroz Province, said most of the deportees were refugees who had been forced to return, despite earlier Iranian promises to the Afghan government and international community that they would not harass refugees during winter. Merzad said the expulsions were a deliberate means of exerting "political pressure" on the Afghan government.