RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees has reported that in the past year, more than 1.799 million individuals have returned to Afghanistan from Iran, Pakistan, and other countries. According to the ministry, 9,766 Afghanistanis have been released from prisons in Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran during this period. The ministry stated that these individuals returned either voluntarily or through forced repatriation.
On Sunday, August 21, the Taliban’s Ministry of Refugees presented its annual report. The report states, “A total of 5,766 Afghanistanis who were imprisoned in Pakistan and Turkey have been released and repatriated to their native regions. Additionally, 4,000 Afghanistanis who had been detained in Iran for various offenses have been transferred back to Afghanistan.”
The Taliban claims that 13 residential townships have been “cleared” over the past year to provide permanent housing for these returnees. However, many of these migrants are attempting to re-enter their host countries in search of employment. Recently, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that between March and June of this year, over 858,000 individuals returned to Afghanistan from various countries.
The majority of these individuals were forcibly deported. Earlier, Pakistani media reported that nearly 700,000 Afghanistani migrants were expelled from Pakistan in the first seven months of this year. The mass deportation of thousands of undocumented migrants from countries like Iran continues at a time when Afghanistan, under Taliban control, is grappling with severe poverty and a deepening human rights crisis. According to the United Nations, more than half of the country’s population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
These migrants have no intention of voluntarily returning to Afghanistan; they are being forcibly expelled.
