Iran mass expels Afghan refugees, raising alarms for women under Taliban

Iran's deportation of 250,000 Afghans, many of them women, has sparked a humanitarian crisis as returnees face deadly heat, Taliban restrictions, and limited support at overcrowded border crossings

As Tehran enforces a broad crackdown on undocumented migration, over a quarter of a million Afghan nationals, many of them unaccompanied women, have been deported in recent weeks, triggering urgent concerns among human rights groups about the humanitarian fallout of the move and the safety of women.

 

The deportations come after Tehran issued a directive in March mandating all undocumented Afghans to leave the country by the end of June or face detention. According to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM), around 256,000 Afghans were expelled in just the past month, with June alone accounting for over 230,000 removals. This brings the total number of Afghan migrants returned from Iran to 714,572 since January 1.