Afghan Representative To UN Concerned About Situation Of Refugees in Iran & Pakistan

Nasir Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan's acting representative to the United Nations, said that the condition of Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan is "dire”.

Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee on Thursday, Faiq said that many Afghan refugee children in neighbouring countries have been deprived of education and health services.

Faiq said that the Afghan refugee population has reached an alarming figure and that more than five million Afghan refugees have taken refuge in Iran and Pakistan. He added that the high volume of immigrants has put the countries under a lot of pressure.

"Since the Taliban's military takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, more than 1.6 million more Afghans have fled violence, economic collapse and systematic human rights violations and sought refuge in neighbouring countries," Faiq said.

He called on UN member states to increase their financial commitments to support Afghan refugees. Member states should increase resettlement quotas and support Afghan refugees through safe routes, such as family reunification and humanitarian visas, he said. According to him, this will reduce the pressure on the host countries.

Pakistan and Iran have intensified the deportation of Afghan refugees. Iran is currently aggressively implementing the deportation of migrants, and thousands of Afghan migrants are being arrested and deported every day. In recent months, there have been numerous reports of Iranian police officials mistreating migrants and attacking Afghans in parts of Iran.

Among the undocumented immigrants, the Islamic Republic also deports Afghans with legal documents. Faiq described the conditions of Afghan refugees in these countries as dire, adding that refugees in Iran face challenges in accessing banking and other services due to problems related to documents, and some of them are even deported from the country despite having documents.

The Acting Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations also emphasised that there should be no forced deportation of Afghans, adding that the voluntary return of Afghan refugees should be carried out in safe conditions and with respect for their human dignity.

Referring to a recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Faiq said that the population of Afghan refugees and migrants has reached 5.53 million and since September last year, more than 733,000 Afghans, including women and children, have returned to the country from Pakistan.