Over 40,000 Afghan Immigrants Arrested In Last One Month, Says Iranian Official

Sardar Reza Shojaei, the border guard commander of Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province, announced that 40,509 immigrants without legal documentations were arrested on Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan over the last one month.

In recent months, the arrest and deportation of Afghan immigrants has accelerated in Iran and Pakistan.

On Saturday, Iranian media quoted Shojaei as saying that these people were identified and arrested while entering Iran.

Earlier, Iran’s border guard commander had said that since the beginning of this year, more than 738,000 "illegal foreign nationals" have been deported from Iran.

Recently, the arrest and deportation of Afghan immigrants in Pakistan have also accelerated.

Amir Mir, Pakistan’s Punjab Minister of Information, on Friday announced that about 99,000 "illegal" migrants have been detained ahead of November.

Mir said that of them, 33,000 people do not have residency documents and will be deported.

Almost a month ago, the interim government of Pakistan warned all immigrants who do not have an official residence permit in the country to leave Pakistan by October 31, otherwise they will be imprisoned and deported.