7000 plus Afghan refugees returned home from Iran

KABUL (Khaama Press): Taliban authorities at the Refugee and Repatriation Department of Nimruz province announced that 7,612 Afghan refugees have returned to the country from Iran over the past week.
Sediqullah Nasrat, the director of the Refugees and Repatriation Department of Nimruz province on Saturday said that 519 refugees who suffered critical economic conditions, received cash aid from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Mr. Nasrat added that IOM – the United Nations agency for migration distributed food and other necessary items to the remaining families.
He further stated that some 7,612 Afghan migrants have returned to the country from Iran through the Abrishum land route over the past week alone.
This comes as the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation Afghanistan on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a private organization called ‘Osta’ to create employment opportunities for more than a thousand needy families.
Some experts have described the main reason for the migration of Afghan nationals to the neighboring countries as extreme poverty, unemployment, lack of job security, and political instability.
Meanwhile, some local residents say that in the absence of jobs, they don’t have a choice but to migrate to other countries no matter what the consequences might be.
Prior to this, the authorities of the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation reported the return of some 3,000 Afghan migrants, a majority of who were forced to leave, while others left Iran of their own will.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled Afghanistan to the neighboring countries fearing persecution and death threats. Most of these people entered host countries through illegal channels, now facing serious problems including forceful deportation and imprisonment.
Over the past couple of weeks, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan have extradited thousands of Afghan nationals due to not having legal stay permits (visas). While in Afghanistan, under the Taliban regime, a large majority of the Afghan populace suffers dire poverty, hunger, unemployment, instability, isolation, and several other challenges of different kinds.