Iran to repatriate two million illegal Afghan migrants in six months

Iran to repatriate two million illegal Afghan migrants in six months

The head of Iran’s police force says two million undocumented Afghan migrants in Iran will be deported to their own country by the end of the current Iranian year, on March 20.

Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan said on Tuesday, “We are trying to expel a significant number of unauthorized foreign nationals who are illegally in the country but cannot be in Iran by the end of this year.”

General Radan added the police and security forces have made arrangements with other organizations, including the interior ministry, to expedite the process.

As for the number of the illegal immigrants in Iran, the police chief said, “The number of unauthorized foreigners in the country has been determined, but the final data will be announced by the Foreign Nationals Department of the Interior Ministry.”

According to unconfirmed reports, the number of Afghan migrants in the country has swelled to 10 million, primarily due to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

A day earlier, Iran’s newly-appointed Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni once again reiterated the call on illegal Afghan nationals to return to their own country, warning “The current situation is absolutely intolerable for Iran.”

He also said efforts are underway to control the border with Afghanistan.

There are growing concerns in Iran that the bulging Afghan population will put an unaffordable strain on the country’s economy and will lead to social insecurity.