Nearly 100,000 undocumented Afghan migrants/refugees have been expelled from Iran over the past month and the total could reach one million by next spring, according to Tehran officials who say they are trying to protect the jobs of Iranians. There are 920,000 registered Afghan refugees in Iran, according to UNHCR, which estimates there are up to one million more living there illegally. Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said Tehran wants one million Afghans to be repatriated by March.
The mass repatriation is straining the resources of the Afghan government and international aid agencies operating in the region. There are reports that some of those deported have suffered inhumane treatment, including physical abuse, loss of belongings and separation from their families. In the western Afghan provinces of Farah and Nimroz, aid agencies have set up tent communities and food-distribution points to accommodate the returnees.
Iran's eastern border city of Zabul has been almost emptied of its once-large Afghan population, while a senior security official in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province was quoted by the IRNA news agency as saying the area is now off-limits to foreigners, including both legal and illegal Afghan refugees. The director-general for the employment of foreign nationals also told IRNA that Iranians who employ undocumented Afghans will face court cases.
The Karzai government has drawn public anger over its handling of the problem. Earlier this month, the Afghan parliament passed a vote of no confidence in Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta for not doing enough to persuade Tehran to modify its forced-deportation policy. Lawmakers here insist the vote must be respected, but Mr. Karzai said Mr. Spanta will remain in office pending a "clarification" from the Supreme Court on whether he can be dismissed by a vote on a matter not directly related to his post.
The government of Pakistan, meanwhile, approved a plan to repatriate an estimated 3 million Afghan refugees and close all refugee camps by 2009, unidentified officials told the Pakistani daily Dawn. Pakistan, which contends that refugee camps are fertile recruiting grounds for Taliban insurgents, plans this year to close four camps that hold hundreds of thousands of refugees. Since the 1979 Soviet invasion, more than 5 million Afghans have sought refuge in neighboring countries. |