1.3 Million "Illegal" Migrants Deported Last Year, Announces Iranian Interior Minister

Ahmad Vahidi, the Interior Minister of the Islamic Republic, has announced the deportation of 1.3 million "illegal" migrants from Iran last year.

Iranian media reported Vahidi as saying that the country is currently not accepting new migrants and all "unauthorised" nationals must vacate Iran.

The Iranian government refers to Afghan refugees as "nationals". Vahidi emphasised on the need for legal reforms to prevent the entry of unauthorised nationals.

Asghar Bolukian, the Director-General of Foreign Nationals and Migration Affairs at Iran's National Migration Organisation, recently stated that Iran no longer has the capacity to accommodate Afghan migrants. Bolukian urged the Taliban to create secure and viable conditions for the return of Afghan migrants to their homeland. He also described Afghanistan as a "ruined and technologically backward" country, according to the IRIB news agency.

Since the Taliban's rise to power in August 2021, a significant number of Afghans have sought refuge in countries like Iran. Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic continues to detain and repatriate thousands of Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan each week.