report in Khaama Press online, Nov 13, 2023
The commander of the border guards in Khorasan Razavi province revealed that Iranian border guards detained and deported back 21,407 Afghan migrants to Afghanistan who had crossed into Iran illegally.

In the first six months of this year, more than 328,000 Afghan migrants have been expelled from Iran.

Majid Shuja, the commander of the border guards in Khorasan Razavi, said in a press conference on Monday that these migrants had been identified during the past nine days when they entered Iran “illegally” and were handed over to a representative of the Taliban in the Dogharun district.

This comes as earlier reports from Afghan returnees to Iran indicated that some of them, even with official residency permits, were detained and deported.

Meanwhile, during the first half of this year alone, over 328,000 Afghan migrants have been repatriated from Iran.

Simultaneously, Pakistan’s interim government decided to expel Afghan migrants forcefully from its country on November 1.

Since then, Pakistan has expelled more than 220,000 Afghan migrants. This marks a significant effort on both sides of the border to address the issue of illegal migration and manage the movement of Afghan nationals.

The decisions taken by Iran and Pakistan are indicative of the complex and evolving situation in the region, where governments are navigating the delicate balance between humanitarian concerns and the need to enforce immigration policies and border control measures.
https://www.khaama.com/iran-deports-over-21000-afghan-migrants-in-a-week/