HERAT, 5 November 2007 (IRIN) - The government of
Afghanistan has called on Iran to stop deporting thousands of Afghan citizens
without work permits or refugee status, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs told IRIN on 5 November.
More than
200,000 Afghans have been deported from Iran since March, according to Afghan
officials
(file photo by ISNA)
“Afghanistan is
particularly vulnerable to any mass deportation during winter,” said Sultan
Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the ministry, adding that the country lacked the
capacity to integrate a large number of deportees.
In April and May this
year, Iranian authorities deported thousands of Afghans - a move that caused a
humanitarian problem for ill-prepared Afghanistan.
Iran slowed down the
expulsions after the government of President Hamid Karzai, the UN and several
other international organisations criticised the move and called for a more
gradual deportation process.
However, Afghan officials in western Herat
province, bordering Iran, say the deportations have restarted in the past 10
days, with at least 500 Afghans being sent home daily.
“Since 23 October,
about 8,000 people have been deported from Iran to Herat province,” said
Shamsuddin Hamid, director of the provincial department of refugee and returnee
affairs.
The Iranian embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the issue.
Vulnerable deportees
Most deportees are young, single men who migrated to Iran
mostly in search of employment and economic opportunities, aid agencies say.
Provincial officials, however, are concerned that hundreds of women,
children and elderly people have also been evicted.
“There are deported
women whose husbands still remain in Iran,” Hamid told IRIN. “There are also
deported men whose children and wives are left in Iran,” he added.
UN
agencies have helped Afghan authorities set up two transition centres in Nemroz
and Herat provinces where deportees receive assistance and shelter for up to 48
hours. Some also receive help to reach their final destinations inside the
country, according to the UN.
Refugees and “illegal migrants”
The UN Refugee
Agency (UNHCR) says there are more than 900,000 registered Afghan refugees in
Iran. The government has given assurances it will not force Afghan refugees to
return home, UNHCR has confirmed.
However, the large numbers of Afghans
who do not have refugee status and are considered illegal are not protected by
UNHCR.
Since 2002, about four million Afghans - three million from
Pakistan and about 850,000 from Iran - have been repatriated to Afghanistan with
UN help, according to UNHCR.
Meanwhile, at least 35 people, allegedly
with valid refugee identity cards, have also been deported to Herat in the past
10 days, provincial officials said.
Salvatore Lombardo, head of UNHCR
mission in Afghanistan, said the organisation was verifying these reports.
Iran has reportedly ordered all foreigners, including thousands of
Afghan refugees, to leave Sistan and Baluchestan
province.
