Over 2100 Afghan refugees return to their country from Iran

Kabul [Afghanistan], June 5 (ANI): As many as 2,106 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan from Iran through Islamqala border in western Herat province, Afghanistan-based Khaama Press reported citing Taliban-led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation

In a series of tweets, the Refugee and Repatriation Ministry said these migrants returned to Afghanistan on June 3. According to Taliban official, at least 193 returnees were taken to International Office for Migration (IOM) for receiving basic necessary aid, Khaama Press reported.
The development comes as the repatriation of Afghan migrants from Iran has unprecedentedly increased over the past months due to multiple reasons, as per the news report. Earlier in May, the Taliban-led Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said that nearly 65,000 Afghan refugees returned to the country from Iran over the past month, Khaama Press reported.

The refugees returned to Afghanistan from Iran through Pul-e-Abresham port in Nimruz province over the past month, as per the Khaama Press report. The number of refugees entering the nation from Iran has increased recently, according to data from the Nimruz province’s refugee department.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the continuous return of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries is closely related to the rising inflation and lack of employment opportunities in the host countries. According to existing reports, roughly six million Afghan migrants currently live in Iran and Pakistan.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled Afghanistan to the neighbouring countries fearing persecution and death threats. Majority of these people entered host countries through illegal channels, now facing serious problems including forceful deportation and imprisonment.

Earlier this month, Iran’s interior minister Ahmad Vahidi asked the Taliban authorities to advise their security forces on maintaining peace and security and avoiding further border clashes, Khaama Press News Agency reported.

The Iranian Minister said that peace and security have been restored in the area after recent occurrences at the Iran-Afghanistan border, reported Khaama Press quoting Tasnim News.

Earlier in May, clashes erupted between Iranian and Afghan Taliban forces at the border between the two countries, Iranian police said without reporting casualties, amid a water dispute between the two neighbours, Iran-based news agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

Brigadier General Qasem Rezaei, deputy commander of the national police, expressed grave concern over the unprovoked attack on the Sassoli outpost, located in the Zabol border regiment near the Afghan frontier.

The Taliban forces initiated the assault in contravention of “international law and principles of good neighbourliness”, and were met with “a decisive and courageous counteraction from the border guards” of the Islamic Republic, the commander said.

Following the border skirmishes, Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan, chief commander of the national police, issued a directive to the border guards, asking them to “defend the borders bravely and decisively and not allow any trespassing or encroachment.”