Afghans in Iran

This article is about citizens of Afghanistan living in Iran. For Pashtuns in Iran, see Pashtun diaspora § Pashtuns in the Middle East.

Afghans in Iran
افغانستانی‌ها در ایران
Total population
c. 6 million (estimate)[1][2]
Regions with significant populations
Tehran province, Khorasan Razavi province, Qom province, Isfahan province, Kerman province, Fars province
Languages
Dari (Persian), Pashto, Uzbek, Turkmen, and other languages of Afghanistan
Religion
Islam (Sunni and Shia)

Afghans in Iran (Persian: افغانستانی‌ها در ایران) are citizens of Afghanistan who are temporarily residing in Iran as refugees or asylum seekers. They form the largest percent of the Afghan diaspora. The first wave of Afghans crossed into Iran after the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979.

According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are approximately 3 million Afghan citizens in Iran as of January 2023,[3][4][5] most of whom were born and raised in Iran during the last four decades.[6][7] They are under the care and protection of the UNHCR,[8][4] and are provided time-limited legal status by Iran's Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrant Affairs,[3] without a path to obtain permanent residency.[9] There are also about 600,000 Afghan tourists, travelers, merchants, exchanged students, regular or irregular migrant workers, and others.[10][8][4] According to Hassan Kazemi Qomi, half of Iran's foreign investors are Afghans.[11]

There have been widespread reports of Iranian mistreatment of Afghan migrants and their human rights,[12] and the community is very marginalized.[13] In 2006, about 146,387 undocumented Afghans were deported.[14] Many more continue to experience such events.[15][16] In 2010, six Afghan prisoners were executed by hanging in the streets of Iran, which sparked angry demonstrations in Afghanistan.[17]

In August 2024 Iran ordered all Afghanistani undocumented citzens return to their country before a one year deadline.[18]

  1. ^ تابناک. "آمار مهاجران افغان در ایران ۶ میلیون است".
  2. ^ "Iran's Interior Minister - The presence of more than 5 million Afghan immigrants in Iran". www.isna.ir. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Iran provides residency permits to one million Afghan refugees was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Refugees in Iran was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference CIAWFIR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Why are Afghan refugees leaving Iran? was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Newsweek_2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference data2.unhcr.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Iran: Afghan Refugees and Migrants Face Abuse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference TT-461585 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Afghan nationals responsible for half of Iran's 2022 foreign investment was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ "UNWELCOME GUESTS: Iran's Violation of Afghan Refugee and Migrant Rights" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2013.
  13. ^ "No country for minorities: the inequality of state repression in Iran". openDemocracy.
  14. ^ Tang, Alisa (15 June 2007), "Iran Forcibly Deports 100,000 Afghans", Washington Post, retrieved 3 September 2010
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference TOLOnews-181210 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Iran daily deports thousands of Afghans to Herat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ "Afghans demonstrate against Iranian 'ill-treatment' and executions of Afghan refugees", BBC News, 6 May 2010, retrieved 3 September 2010
  18. ^ "Afghan refugees worry as Iran continues forced deportation". 8 August 2024.