The existence of millions of Afghan refugees living in Iran is in danger. Iran has given an ultimatum to those who escaped from the Taliban to leave the country by July 6. After the deadline, Afghans present in Iran will be arrested. In fact, after the withdrawal of US forces and NATO forces from Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban took power.
After this, lakhs of Afghan citizens crossed the border and took refuge in Iran. Currently, there are about 40 lakh Afghans in Iran. After the conflict with Israel, Iran has started worrying about national security. In such a situation, the first blow has fallen on Afghan refugees. However, this had started much earlier. As early as March 2025, Iranian authorities asked Afghan refugees without legal documents to leave the country by early July.
According to the report, since then, about 7 lakh Afghan refugees have left Iran. In the month of June alone, 2.3 lakh people said goodbye to Iran. Now after the completion of the deadline of 6 July, the remaining people are facing the threat of arrest and deportation.
Human rights groups have expressed concern that such large-scale deportations could destabilize Afghanistan, already one of the world’s poorest countries. Initially, Iran used to send back an average of 2000 people every day, but currently this figure has crossed 30 thousand per day.
Iran officials have defended their move, saying that national security is a priority. In such a situation, illegal immigrants should return. Now human rights organizations fear that after July 6, the existence of Afghans present in Iran will be threatened.