The Kabul Tribune (KT) — A senior Iranian official said authorities are working to regulate and legalize the stay of Afghan migrants in the country, even as Iran faces criticism for stepping up deportations in recent months, Iranian media reported.
Nader Yarahmadi, head of the Bureau for Foreign Nationals
and Immigrants Affairs at Iran’s Interior Ministry, said on Thursday that any
actions regarding migrants should be based on “respect and empathy.”
“We acknowledge that mistakes have been made in some cases,
and we have tried to address them swiftly,” Yarahmadi said during a provincial
conference titled Servants of Empathy and Kindness in the northeastern city of
Mashhad. “Unfortunately, our country has been influenced by negative
propaganda, which has amplified the issue of xenophobia.”
He praised government officials who have called for humane
treatment of foreign nationals, describing such attitudes as “very valuable.”
Yarahmadi also said Iran is working to move beyond temporary
residence permits for Afghans, arguing that short-term stays “benefit no one.”
He added that police had started issuing driver’s licenses to legal foreign
nationals in the city of Shiraz as part of broader efforts to regulate their
legal status.
His remarks come amid growing concerns over mass
deportations of Afghan migrants. Iranian authorities have intensified
expulsions in recent months, affecting both undocumented and registered
Afghans.
Meanwhile, some Afghan migrants — particularly business and
property owners — have complained that their assets and belongings were left
behind in Iran following their deportation.
Iran hosts one of the world’s largest populations of Afghan
refugees and migrants, with millions having fled decades of conflict and
economic hardship in Afghanistan.
