Ahmadullah Muttaqi, head of the Taliban’s Commission for Migrants’ Affairs in Herat, said the forced return of Afghan migrants from Iran is ongoing, with deportations occurring daily.
Muttaqi stated that the majority of the roughly 340,000 Afghan nationals who have returned from Iran so far were forcibly deported by Iranian authorities.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on Monday that nearly 450,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since early June, as Iranian authorities implemented a deadline of 6 July for undocumented Afghan migrants to leave the country.
While many returnees have reported a lack of basic services and poor conditions, particularly in border areas such as Islam Qala, the Taliban official claimed that support systems are in place across all provinces to receive and assist returnees.
However, international aid agencies have warned that Afghanistan does not have the infrastructure or resources to manage such a large influx of people. Humanitarian groups have expressed concern that the mass deportations could further destabilise a country already facing severe economic hardship and widespread food insecurity.
