Iran has ordered millions of Afghan refugees and migrants to leave the country or risk being arrested as a government-imposed deadline expires. The enforcement comes amid heightened tensions and security fears following a 12-day war with Israel, during which the United States targeted Iran’s nuclear sites on June 21-22 under “Operation Midnight Hammer”.
The Iranian government had given Afghans without legal residency until early July to leave voluntarily or face expulsion. Since then, over 700,000 Afghans have left, including more than 230,000 in June alone, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration. Hundreds of thousands more remain at risk of being deported.
“We have always striven to be good hosts, but national security is a priority, and naturally, illegal nationals must return,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said. However, humanitarian organizations have raised concerns, warning that mass deportations could further destabilize Afghanistan, one of the world’s most impoverished nations.
Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan, described chaotic scenes at the border, with Afghan families arriving in buses, confused, exhausted, and hungry. “They are coming in buses, and sometimes, five buses arrive at one time with families and others, and the people are let out of the bus, and they are simply bewildered, disoriented and tired and hungry as well,” he said.
The deportations have torn families apart, with many Afghans having lived in Iran for decades and considering it their home. “Being born in Iran gives us the feeling of having two homelands,” said Batoul Akbari, a restaurant owner in Tehran. “Our parents are from Afghanistan, but this is what we’ve always known as home.”
Mohammad Nasim Mazaheri, a student whose family had to leave Iran, agreed: “The deportations have torn families apart.” The UNHCR estimated that Iran deported more than 30,000 Afghans on average each day during the war with Israel, up from about 2,000 earlier.
The situation has been further complicated by growing anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran, fueled by accusations that Afghans are responsible for economic hardships and social problems. Allegations have also surfaced that Israel has recruited Afghans as spies, further exacerbating tensions.