268 Afghan Detainees Were Released from Iran Prisons

Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said that 268 Afghan detainees have been released from prisons in Iran, and transferred to Afghanistan through the ‘Islamqala’ crossing point.

The minister has said that the Afghan prisoners were released and handed over to the Afghan government as a result of negotiations and agreements between the two countries.

The number of Afghan prisoners in Iran has been announced in 1728, however, the Taliban have not yet commented on what charges the inmates were imprisoned in Iran.

Following the handover of the Afghan Embassy in Tehran to the Taliban, many Afghans who had fled the country fearing persecution and death threats from the Taliban, now are concerned about their security. Some of them have said that now the Taliban can easily find their details, residential area, and workplace in Iran.

After the overthrow of the previous government in August 2021, more than a million Afghan nationals migrated to Iran, according to Iranian officials. Most of these Afghan migrants entered Iran illegally and without having visas or stay permits.

Over the past months, the Iranian government has taken serious measures to deal with undocumented Afghan refugees in the host country. They have been continuously incarcerating and forcefully deporting Afghan nationals to Afghanistan through Islamqala and Abrishum crossing points.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government is accused of misconducting Afghan refugees. The United Nations Agency for Refugees has repeatedly called on Iran to treat Afghan migrants with decency, however, the Islamic Regime pursues its own policy.