RASC News Agency: The Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency has reported the forced return of 115 Afghanistani families from Iran and Pakistan within the past 24 hours. These individuals re-entered Afghanistan through the Spin Boldak, Torkham, Pul-e-Abrisham, and Islam Qala border crossings. According to the reports, these families have been referred to international organizations for humanitarian assistance. Following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghanistani citizens sought refuge in neighboring countries, particularly Iran and Pakistan, to escape persecution and instability.
Both Iran and Pakistan have, however, continued to detain and deport thousands of Afghanistani migrants monthly. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated in a December 25 report that between September 15, 2023, and November 30, 2024, over 783,000 Afghanistani migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Iran has similarly announced its intent to deport up to two million Afghanistani migrants by the end of the current year. Since the Taliban’s resurgence, more than ten million Afghanistani citizens have fled the country due to retaliatory policies, ethnic and linguistic discrimination, political oppression, widespread insecurity, terrorism, poverty, and unemployment.
The plight of these deported migrants remains dire, as many face immediate threats upon their return to Afghanistan. Reports reveal that the Taliban has arrested, tortured, and in some cases, executed deportees. In the past two weeks alone, Taliban forces reportedly detained several young Tajik Panjshiris deported from Iran, transferring them to undisclosed locations under unknown circumstances. This ongoing cycle of deportation and persecution underscores the severe humanitarian and political crisis in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
