KABUL, 18 December 2008 (IRIN) - Afghan government officials and aid agencies
are calling on the Iranian authorities to halt the deportation of Afghans from
Iran during the winter for humanitarian reasons.
"Large-scale expulsions during the cold season will push our country into a
humanitarian crisis," said Abdul Matin Edrak, director of the Afghanistan
National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA).
Mass deportations will exacerbate the plight of over eight million vulnerable
Afghans who are already facing hunger this winter due to a severe drought, high
food prices and conflict, according to aid agencies.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said more than 360,000
individuals, mostly young men, have been deported from Iran in the past seven
months.
Every day about 1,000 people are being deported to western Afghanistan's Herat
Province through the Islam Qala border point, provincial officials have
reported. Deportees are also entering the border province of Nimruz.
No one at the Iranian embassy in Kabul was available for comment.
Iran reportedly slowed down deportations last winter - ostensibly for
humanitarian reasons - but resumed the process in April.
Remittances vital
Unemployment at home and better opportunities in Iran are prompting many young
Afghan men to travel to Iran illegally, using a clandestine but "well-organised
human smuggling network", according to research by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Afghan migrants find jobs in construction, manufacturing and agriculture, and
are willing to work in onerous conditions in a bid to support their families and
dependants back home.
"The overall flow of remittances, calculated on the basis of an annual rate of
US$2,496 per person, is estimated at US$500 million, representing approximately
6 percent of the national GDP [gross domestic product] of Afghanistan," said the
UNHCR/ILO study launched on 7 December.
"Iranian employers prefer hiring Afghan workers because they represent a cheap,
flexible and highly productive source of labour," the study said.
Vulnerable deportees
It is unclear how many Afghan migrants currently
work and live in Iran, but informal estimates put the figure at around one
million.
The Iranian
authorities have frequently said all Afghan nationals who live and work in
Iran illegally will be deported to their home country. MoRR's figures suggest
over 600,000 Afghans have been deported from Iran in the past two years.
Such deportations not only adversely affect families who rely on remittances but
also cause security, health and social challenges in urban areas, according to
aid agencies.
"I worked for six months in Iran. I was promptly deported after the police
arrested me. All my money and belongings remain there," said Azizullah, a
deportee in Herat city.
"I have no home, nothing to eat and no money in my pocket to travel to my home
in Kabul," said another.
Acknowledging Iran's sovereign right to expel intruders from its territory, the
UN and rights watchdogs have asked that deportations be humane and gradual.
Today is International Migrants' Day. 
