Taliban raises refugee 'harassment' issue with Iranian diplomats
Apr 09, 2022
Kabul [Afghanistan], April 9 : The Taliban summoned the diplomats of the Iran embassy in Kabul to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees in Iran, reported local media.
"The second deputy political minister of political affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Faizanullah Nasiri, met officials from the embassy of Iran in Kabul and discussed the misconduct of the Iranian border forces with the Afghan refugees," read a statement from the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Tolo News.
Notably, over 2,200 Afghan refugees were deported by Iran in the last 24 hours and the number of Afghan deportees by Iran surpassed 14,000 last week, the media outlet reported on Friday citing the Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation.
However, the Iran embassy's press counsellor has said that the Taliban should provide an environment conducive to avoiding the migration of people from Afghanistan.
"Around seven to eight million Afghan nationals went to Iran. The Afghan government should facilitate an environment so the people (Afghans) will not go to Iran," the media outlet quoted Sayed Abas Badrifar, the Iran embassy's press counsellor, as saying.
Earlier, a viral video had been circulating on social media platforms that showed how Afghan refugees were being "harassed" in the neighbouring country Iran.
The video circulated showed the Afghan refugees being tortured and misbehaved in public.
The Afghan refugees flew to Iran seeking shelters after the Taliban takeover last August.
Many of them do not have the legal documents or visas which leads to their harassment, reported Tolo News.
However, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul refuted the claims and called the video fake.
Since the Taliban took over, Afghanistan has not only seen a mass exodus but also the illegal crossings of Afghans into neighbouring countries like Iran via Nimroz province and Turkey. It also led to the killings of nearly 100 of them by the Iranian forces and were later deported to Afghanistan, reported Tolo News.
