Pakistan and Iran this week ramped up efforts to expel Afghan refugees, sending a total of 5,000 back to Afghanistan on Saturday alone.
Despite an outcry by a number of organizations over the process, Pakistan and Iran appear determined to expel as many undocumented refugees as possible.
According to a statement issued by the ministry of refugees and returnees on Sunday, “5,303 Afghan refugees were returned forcibly and then transferred from the borders of Pul-e-Abrisham in Nimroz province, Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, Islam Qala in Herat province and from Torkham gate in Nangarhar province on July 27.”
This was in addition to a further 17,000 migrants who were deported from the two countries earlier in the week, the ministry said.
In a meeting with the new head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for Afghanistan, the Acting Minister of Refugees requested more attention be paid to the needy and refugees.
Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani asked the United Nations to cooperate in the implementation of the five-year strategic program of resettlement and permanent integration for returning refugees.
Meanwhile, a new wave of mistreatment has hit Afghan migrants in Iran.
This came after the killing of an Iranian citizen in Tehran late last week. The Iranian was allegedly killed by three Afghan migrants. Many migrants deported from Iran and Pakistan in the past few months have complained about the treatment meted out by police in the two countries.
Pakistani and Iranian authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of mistreatment and say they deal with Afghan migrants in accordance with international laws and consider it their legal right to deport Afghans without documents.
