Afghan residents in Austria staged a protest outside the United Nations office in Vienna on Thursday, denouncing the mass deportation of Afghan migrants from Iran and Pakistan and calling for humane treatment.
The demonstrators carried photographs of migrants who recently died in Iran and chanted slogans such as “Afghan migrants are human too” and “Silence in the face of oppression is complicity.” Protesters condemned what they described as violent and discriminatory actions by certain Iranian institutions and citizens against Afghan nationals.
Organisers called on both Iran and Pakistan to ensure Afghan migrants are treated with dignity and respect. They also urged the United Nations to take immediate and practical steps to uphold the rights of Afghan migrants facing forced return.
The protesters expressed particular concern over deportations from Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan, which they said are placing thousands of vulnerable Afghans at risk.
A similar demonstration was held a day earlier in Hamburg, Germany, where Afghan asylum seekers voiced opposition to increasing deportations of their compatriots from neighbouring countries.
