Iran expels 1.45m Afghan migrants in 6 months

KABUL (Pajhwok): Iranian authorities say that 1.45 million Afghan migrants have been expelled from the country during the first six months of the current solar year.

According to the IRNA news agency, Nader Yar Ahmadi, head of the Center for Foreign Nationals and Migrants at Iran’s Ministry of Interior, said: “The number of unauthorized departures of foreign nationals in the first six months of this year reached 1.45 million.”

He added that the expulsion of Afghan migrants is ongoing, with a similar number expected to be deported in the near future.

Ahmadi noted that the Afghan migrant population in Iran previously reached six million but has now decreased to 4.5 million.

He also said that 80,000 marriages between Afghan and Iranian men and women have been registered (40,000 Afghans married to Iranians and vice versa). Including their children, these families constitute a population of around 250,000.

Regarding ID cards for the children of these families, Ahmadi said: “Children born to Iranian mothers or fathers, and vice versa, are eligible to receive a birth certificate.”

sa