Nearly 450,000 Afghans left Iran since June 1: IOM

KABUL: Nearly 450,000 Afghans have returned from Iran since the start of June, the United Nations’ migration agency said on Monday, after Tehran ordered those without documentation to leave by July 6.

In late May, Iran said undocumented Afghans must leave the country by July 6, potentially impacting four million people out of the around six million Afghans Tehran says live in the country.

Numbers of people crossing the border have surged since mid-June, with some days seeing around 40,000 people crossing at Islam Qala in western Herat province, UN agencies have said.

From June 1 to July 5, 449,218 Afghans returned from Iran, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration told AFP on Monday, adding that the total for the year so far was 906,326.

Many people crossing reported pressure from authorities or arrest and deportation, as well as losing already limited finances in the rush to leave quickly.

Massive foreign aid cuts have impacted the response to the crisis, with the UN, international non-governmental groups and Taliban officials calling for more funding to support the returnees.

The UN has warned the influx could destabilise the country already grappling with entrenched poverty, unemployment and climate change-related shocks and urged nations not to forcibly return Afghans.

“Forcing or pressuring Afghans to return risks further instability in the region, and onward movement towards Europe,” the UN refugees’ agency UNHCR said in a statement on Friday.