CNN
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According to the United Nations, more than half a million Afghans have been expelled from Iran in the 16 days since the conflict with Israel ended, making it possible to be one of the largest population movements of its population in the last decade.
For months, Tehran has declared its intention to remove millions of undocumented Afghans who engage in low-wage work in Iran, often under harsh conditions.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 508,426 Afghans left Iran through the Iran-Afghan border between June 24th and July 9th.
An astonishing 33,956 peaked at 51,000 on Wednesday, followed by an undocumented Afghans from Iran before the Sunday deadline was reached.
The deportation, part of the programme announced by Iran in March, has fundamentally increased in its pace since the 12-day conflict with Israel, supported by unfounded claims that Afghans spy on Israel before and during the attack. Slight evidence has emerged to support claims that Afghan migrants support Israel, leading critics who suggest that Iran is realizing its long-standing ambitions to reduce the illegal Afghan population and challenge vulnerable minorities.
The conditions for returnees are strict, with temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius, which makes reception centers at Afghan border struggle.
“There are thousands of people under the sun – and you know how hot Herat is. It’s very miserable. Last week was a huge thing.”
Half of this year’s returnees have arrived since June 1, with 250,000 people arriving on July 1, according to the park.
“Last week, it was about 400 unaccompanied, separated kids. That’s a lot,” she added.
Footage from the crossing of the Islamic Kara border often shows hundreds of migrants waiting to be processed and transported in the summer heat of Afghanistan. Many have lived in Iran for years, and despite the lack of documentation, they often live in semi-permanent circumstances, and recent crackdowns have shown that life has been uprooted in minutes.
In his 20s, Bashir said in an interview in Islamkala, a border town in western Afghanistan, that he was detained by Tehran police and threw himself into detention centres.
“First, they took me 10 million Toman (about $200) with me. They then sent me to the detention center where I had stayed for two nights, so they paid another 2 million ($50). They wouldn’t give me food or drinking water to the detention center. There were about 200 people there.
11-year-old Parisa was standing with her parents. She was told she would not be able to attend school again this year, and was deported by her family. Schooling for Afghan girls is restricted under the Taliban.
“We spent six years in Iran and ordered them to leave Iran by applying for an exit letter,” she said. “We had legal census documents and they told me to leave Iran soon.”
The deportation and a rapid rise in claims of Afghan spies have attracted international condemnation. Richard Bennett, the UN’s special rapporteur to Afghanistan, was posted on X over the weekend. Reports of discrimination and incitement to violence in the media also label Afghans and minority communities as using traitors and dehumanising languages. ”
“We have always been trying to be a good host, but national security is a priority and we must return to the illegal people naturally,” Iranian government spokesman Fateme Mohajelani said on July 1, according to Reuters.
State media also airs footage of what is allegedly “spy” in Afghanistan as Israel confesses to working for another Afghanistan based in Germany.
“The person contacted me and said he needed information about a particular location,” the spy allegedly alleged. “He asked for several places and I provided them. I also received $2,000 from him.” The report did not identify any suspicious spies or provide evidence to support the claim.
State media has also released footage of Tehran police closing out immigrants who identified as primarily Afghan.
The potential exile was taken to the bus and forced from the vehicle to a unknown destination.
A state television correspondent for the footage asks one Tehran employer suspected of illegal immigration. The suspicious employer said, “I know! But I have to pay them so they can go back. They want to go.