The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Iran has deported about 1.46 million Afghan migrants since the beginning of the year, a senior Interior Ministry official said.
Nader Yarahmadi, director general of the ministry’s Foreign
Nationals Department, said the expulsions account for roughly 25% of the target
population of undocumented migrants in the country.
“Iran has held talks with the Taliban regarding control of
illegal Afghan migrants, but the Taliban have not provided any guarantees,”
Yarahmadi said on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of interior ministers of
the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states in Tehran.
He said many undocumented migrants still remain in Iran and
must be deported.
Yarahmadi added that economic cooperation among ECO member
states could help reduce illegal migration and improve management of migrant
populations.
He also said most of the women deported left with their
families, noting that Iran’s policy is not to forcibly expel female heads of
households or unaccompanied women unless they choose to leave voluntarily.
