An Iranian border governor revealed this week, Afghan news outlets relayed, that Iran has dramatically increased the rate of mass deportations of Afghans, resulting in over 8,000 repatriations a day.
The Afghan news agency Khaama Press quoted the governor of Taybad, a city on the border with Afghanistan, on Sunday stating that Iran has successfully deported over 95,000 people in the past week. He claimed, however, that many of those being returned to their home country had chosen to leave Iran and that Tehran was following appropriate legal protocol before removing those in question.
The reported deportations are part of a much large expulsion of Afghans out of neighboring states, most prominently Iran and Afghanistan. Following the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in the country in 2021 — and the end of the 20-year Afghan War — the victorious Taliban terrorist organization repeatedly urged Afghan nationals abroad to return home, particularly those with specialized skills such as doctors and engineers. Top Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid conceded in a press conference shortly after the fall of Kabul, “we need their expertise,” referring to the thousands storming Kabul’s international airport desperately seeking to flee the terrorist organization’s rule.
While the United Nations urged neighboring countries to welcome the few Afghans who successfully escaped Taliban rule at the time, that call went largely unheeded. Iran was among the most forceful in implementing mass deportation policies in the early days of the Taliban regime. The number of Afghans displaced around the world, and especially in Pakistan and Iran, has not yet reduced enough to halt the mass deportation operations, however.
The governor Khaama Press quoted, Hussein Jamshidi of Taybad, reportedly said the 8,000 a day being deported are being processed through one border crossing alone, Dogharoon.
“The heightened deportation efforts have targeted migrants from 11 provinces, with a particular focus on those living in precarious conditions without proper documentation,” Khaama reported. “The move is part of Iran’s broader policy aimed at improving border security and regulating the presence of undocumented migrants in the country.”
Jamshidi reportedly claimed that “over 90% of Afghan migrants left voluntarily, suggesting that most chose to return home rather than face further legal challenges in Iran.”
The Afghan outlet Tolo News estimated that the number of deportees may be significantly higher. Citing “reports,” the news agency claimed that “up to 30,000 people are entering the country daily through the Islam Qala border alone.”
The jihadist Taliban regime, which has experienced mixed support from and conflict with its Iranian neighbors, described the situation as a “migrant crisis” in its state media coverage. The Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency reported on Sunday that the Taliban “refugees and repatriation minister” met with United Nations officials and demanded the scheduling of a meeting with Iranian officials present to resolve the situation.
Taliban terrorist Mawlavi Abdul Kabir reportedly “reiterated Afghanistan’s readiness to cooperate fully with the U.N. and its agencies and once again underscored the urgency of holding a trilateral summit with Iran and the United Nations to coordinate on migration challenges.”
The U.N. officials estimated that over “one million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran — a number that continues to rise” and indicated that “expulsions from Iran have sharply increased.”
Another Taliban official, prime minister office deputy Abdul Salam Hanafi, visited the Iranian border on Sunday and demanded Tehran treat Afghan nationals more humanely.
“Islamic and neighborly obligations require Iran to behave in an Islamic manner toward migrants. There should be no oppression, and no rights should be violated. These responsibilities must be respected,” Hanafi declared, according to the Afghan outlet Tolo News.
“We are working to ensure that neither the rights of any Afghan are denied nor their possessions left behind,” Hanafi added.
Tolo News quoted deported Afghans who described abuse and extortion at the hands of Iranian border officers. One man stated that the Iranians “insult and humiliate us” in the process.
“The intensification of forced and large-scale deportations of Afghan migrants by the Islamic Republic of Iran has triggered a wave of concern and hardship among Afghan refugees,” Afghan refugee rights activist Juma Khan Poyel told Tolo News. “Without a doubt, this action contradicts all international conventions and documents related to migrants’ rights and the principles of good neighborliness.”
Even some within Iran have questioned the reported brutality of the deportations. A former Foreign Ministry official, Rasoul Mousavi, published a commentary shared by Khaama on Monday in which he encouraged a “more humane, patient, and dignity-based approach” for Afghans, emphasizing that they were unlikely to be related to “enemy spies,” a reference to Israel and the United States. Mousavi was apparently referencing the arrests of several Afghans during the brief war between Israel and Iran this month in which the Iranian regime claimed those arrested had “confessed” to working with Jerusalem.
“Following a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Iran has notably escalated its deportation of Afghan migrants,” Khaama Press observed.
Repatriations have long been one of the Taliban’s largest challenges in restoring functionality to the Afghan state. In early June, Taliban officials claimed that they had documented the return of over 5 million Afghan citizens to the country; the United Nations estimates that 6 million people are internally displaced within Afghanistan.
Many of those repatriated returned hastily to the country in a wave of deportations from Pakistan in 2023. The Pakistani government abruptly ordered 2 million previously tolerated Afghan refugees to leave the country, giving them a month to do so.
