Nearly 5,000 Afghan refugees return from Iran in 2 days

KABUL (Pajhwok): Nearly 5000 Afghan refugees returned from Iran during the past two days, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said on Monday.

On its twitter page, the ministry said 4,822 Afghan refugees returned to the country from Iran through Nimroz’s Silk Bridge and Herat’s Islam Qala port on Saturday and Sunday.

However, the ministry did not say the returning individuals arrived voluntarily or forcibly expelled. Iran has already forcibly deported thousands of Afghans in recent past.

The Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation said the fresh returnees included 104 families comprising 306 individuals and 2,700 single people. Of these people, 432 persons were introduced to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for assistance.

Meanwhile, Nimroz Refugee Affairs Department said 15 families comprising 63 individuals and 1113 single people returned from Iran through the Silk Bridge.

Of them, 24 people were introduced to the IOM for assistance.

On October 25, as many as 3,292 Afghan refugees returned to the country from Iran through the Nimroz Silk Bridge and 1,588 Afghan refugees returned to the country through the Islam Qala of Herat on Oct 26.

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