Kabul [Afghanistan], November 21 : Iran's Interior Minister stated that nearly six million foreign nationals are currently living in the country, Tolo News reported, with Minister Iskandar Momeni noting that more than 1.5 million migrants have returned to Afghanistan during the ongoing solar year.
Expanding on the scale of these returns, Momeni told Iranian media that "so far, about 1.5 million foreign nationals have been returned," stressing that Iran's capacity to host migrants remains limited despite "historical, cultural, and religious ties" with neighbouring nations.
He added that "over 70 per cent of this 1.5 million returned voluntarily," according to Tolo News.
However, while Iranian authorities present the returns as orderly and voluntary, Afghan migrants in both Iran and Pakistan describe an increasingly difficult environment marked by stricter policies and rising deportations.
Morteza Nazari, an Afghan migrant in Iran, said: "The government has announced that no jobs should be given to migrants. Another problem is that the children of migrants are no longer being admitted to schools. Also, bank cards and SIM cards belonging to migrants have been deactivated."
Amid this tightening landscape, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation in Afghanistan reported fresh developments involving Afghan detainees abroad, noting that more than 2,000 Afghan migrants have recently been released from prisons in Pakistan.
Tolo News reported that the ministry's spokesperson said over 284,000 Afghan nationals had been deported from Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey in under a month.
Offering further details, Abdulmutalib Haqqani said: "From these countries, 83,135 single men have returned separately from their families, and 2,076 prisoners have been released from Pakistani jails, bringing the total number of deported migrants to 284,717."
This rapid rise in expulsions has prompted growing concern from international organisations.
The UNHCR representative in Afghanistan recently warned of the increasing pressure on Afghan migrants returning from Iran, a trend unfolding at a time when international aid is decreasing.