Deported Afghans Claim Iranian Forces Seized Their Money by Force

Deported Afghan migrants from Iran claim that the security forces of this country forcibly take their money and belongings. Many of these migrants arrive in Afghanistan with no money and cannot afford transportation to their provinces.

Saif-ur-Rahman, deported from Iran, said: “Iranian security forces took our money and belongings by force. I went to the UNHCR office in Nimroz for travel expenses to return home, but I received no help.”

Jawed, another deportee from Iran, said: “I was in Iran when the Iranian forces took me from my workplace, subjected me to severe mistreatment and beatings. Now that I’ve arrived in Nimroz, they stamped my hand but provided no assistance. I don’t know how to get home.”

Agha Mohammad, deported from Iran, said: “In Iranian prisons, the security forces emptied all the money from my account, and I waited ten days until some Afghans helped me pay the fare to the border. I went to the UN office, but I received no financial help to reach my home.”

Juma Khan Qureshi, a resident of Baghlan province, had illegally gone to Iran three months ago. He says he doesn’t have the money to return home.

Juma Khan told TOLOnews: “I had illegally gone to Iran three months ago. I was arrested by Iranian forces and deported through the Pole Abrisham (Silk Bridge border) in Nimroz. Along the way, Iranian forces took all my money under various pretexts, and now I can’t afford to return home.”

However, the Nimroz Directorate of Refugees and Repatriations says that with financial cooperation from some foreign organizations, they are providing cash assistance to some of these deported migrants.

Abdullah Riaz, the head of the Nimroz Directorate of Refugees and Repatriations, said: “With the cooperation of some foreign organizations, we have tried to provide financial assistance to newly returned migrants from Iran. In the past two months, we have provided financial assistance to 60,000 migrants.”

According to local Nimroz officials, around 120,000 Afghan migrants have been deported from Iran to Afghanistan in the past two months.