Why are neighboring countries mass deporting Afghans?

According to the Taliban government, Iran has deported more than 500,000 Afghan refugees in the past month.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan for Administrative Affairs, Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, stated at a conference in Kabul that since the beginning of June, Iranian authorities have deported over half a million Afghan refugees. According to him, currently up to 30,000 Afghan refugees are being forcibly returned to the country from Iran daily through the Islam Qala port in Herat province, and up to 10,000 people are being returned via the Silk Road in Nimroz province.

The authorities of Tajikistan have also demanded that Afghan refugees leave the country within 15 days, otherwise they will be deported.

Earlier, media reported that Tajik authorities had expelled dozens of Afghan citizens without prior notice, who had fled after the Taliban came to power. Some migrants complained that Tajik security service officials did not even give them time to change clothes.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Pakistan deported thousands of Afghan refugees without prior notice several months ago in an unprecedented action, despite the fact that many of them were born and raised in Pakistan.

The authorities of Iran, Tajikistan, and Pakistan claim that they are only deporting individuals who do not have residence documents or who violate laws. However, deported refugees assert that not all of them broke the law or were in these countries without permission to stay.

In videos published on social media, some of the deported Afghans express their dissatisfaction, stating that they had lived and worked legally in Iran for 20-30 years, yet the police tore up their documents and expelled them from the country in just one day without prior notice.

Some of these refugees told the media that after Israel’s attack on Iran, Iranian police accused Afghan migrants of espionage for Israel, resulting in some being arrested and others being expelled.

Experts believe that one of the reasons for the mass deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran is the desire to reduce economic pressure on their countries and free up jobs for their own citizens. Another reason analysts cite is the rise of “xenophobic sentiments” in Iranian society.

However, Iran previously stated that these measures are related to “ensuring sustainable security for the country’s citizens.” The authorities of Tajikistan also primarily explain such actions as necessary “for security reasons.”