Deported Afghans Can Reclaim Rental Deposits Via Taliban Embassy, Says Iran

State-run National Television, under Taliban control, reported Sunday that the meeting was held on the order of Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chaired by Noor Mohammad Saqib, the Minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs.

Officials from the Ministries of Higher Education, Education, Information and Culture, and Hajj and Religious Affairs attended the meeting. According to the report, the ministries have been instructed to assess books collected from libraries, schools, and public institutions and to launch public awareness campaigns warning against such materials.

Saqib said the review process will be led by religious scholars and conducted “in accordance with Sharia principles.” A joint committee is expected to develop official guidelines to facilitate the effort.

Since retaking power in August 2021, the Taliban have intensified censorship efforts, banning hundreds of titles they view as incompatible with their ideology. The Ministry of Information and Culture has previously removed books from schools, bookstores, and libraries that it labelled as promoting un-Islamic or anti-Taliban ideas.

The Taliban define “deviant” books as those that oppose or fail to support their views. A special book review commission established by the group has halted the publication and distribution of hundreds of titles, and banned the sale or reprinting of at least 100 books.

Speaking on Sunday, in an interview with Afghanistan International, Kay said Russia’s engagement with the Taliban is not new, noting that Moscow has maintained covert ties with the group for years.

He added that aome regional states may recognise the Taliban because of their national interests, but this move will not affect the position of the West.

He noted that regional countries tend to view Afghanistan as a source of economic opportunity, while Western nations are more concerned with terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and migration. He stressed that Russia is also uneasy about China’s growing presence in Afghanistan and is seeking to reassert its influence.

Despite the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, Kay said that the group’s lack of adherence to civil, political and women’s rights continues to block international recognition. He added that until the Taliban respects basic rights, there is no prospect of recognition by the West.

Kay also highlighted what he described as the West’s diminishing focus on Afghanistan and said that the country is no longer a priority. Even in its current dire state, it is not receiving the attention or funding it needs.

He concluded that the Taliban’s governance structure is inherently fragile, stressed that the regime is unsustainable and Afghanistan’s diverse society cannot tolerate Taliban rule indefinitely.

One of the retirees, Abdul Hakim, said he and his peers are in urgent need of their pensions and should not be subjected to further hardship.

Over the past four years, Afghan retirees have repeatedly protested due to unpaid pensions. However, the Taliban authorities have instructed them to refer to special courts to validate their claims.

Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, the pension payments for retired public servants were suspended and have yet to resume.

Retirees say the Taliban show no intention of restoring their pensions.

She said that circumstances have arisen in which it is no longer possible to continue hosting undocumented migrants in Iran.

According to Behrouz, military forces, border police, governors’ offices, municipalities, and other provincial bodies are working at full capacity to expel undocumented Afghan nationals.

During a recent visit to the Dogharoun border crossing in Khorasan Razavi province, she acknowledged that the deportation of Afghan migrants has increased in recent days.

According to the report, the returns took place via Islam Qala in Herat, Pul-e Abrisham in Nimruz, Spin Boldak in Kandahar, Torkham, and Angur Ada along the border with Pakistan.

Islam Qala was reported as the busiest entry point, with 1925 families, totalling 11350 individuals, entering Afghanistan through that crossing alone.

At Pul-e Abrisham in Nimruz province, 1797 families returned, along with an additional 1480 individuals travelling independently.

From the Spin Boldak crossing in Kandahar, 26 families were reported to have returned, while 56 families entered via Torkham, and four families through the Angur Ada crossing in Paktika province.

The overall data indicates that 3808 migrant families, comprising 20735 individuals, returned to Afghanistan on that single day.

This surge comes amid an intensified wave of both forced and voluntary returns of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan in recent weeks, raising concerns about the capacity of local authorities to respond to their urgent humanitarian needs.

The United Nations has previously warned that Afghanistan is not equipped to absorb such a large number of returnees, given the country’s fragile infrastructure and ongoing economic crisis.