Iran expelled over a million Afghan nationals within a six-month period
In the heart of 2025, Iran finds itself embroiled in a critical humanitarian issue, as the country deports an estimated two million Afghan refugees. This mass migration, primarily driven by Iran’s intensified crackdown on undocumented migrants, has strained the Taliban government's resources and infrastructure, and raised serious human rights concerns [1][2][3].
Causes:
Iran’s government has taken stricter measures against undocumented Afghan migrants, such as ending previously issued headcount slips that allowed Afghans temporary legal stay [4]. Political and economic pressures within Iran, exacerbated by regional geopolitics and sanctions, have contributed to this decision [1][3]. The continued insecurity and displacement in Afghanistan further push many to migrate, but Iran aims to reduce its Afghan migrant population.
Effects:
The return of nearly 2 million Afghans to their homeland in just eight months of 2025 has increased competition over scarce jobs, housing, and basic services amid Afghanistan’s economic collapse and high unemployment [1][2][3]. Many deportees are vulnerable, including undocumented migrants, impacting social cohesion and increasing poverty risks. Large-scale forced returns may disrupt migrants’ lives and expose them to further instability.
Human Rights Implications:
International organizations warn that Afghanistan lacks the capacity to safely and adequately reintegrate the mass of returnees, raising serious concerns over humanitarian conditions [1]. Deportations often occur forcibly without adequate safeguards, potentially violating migrants’ rights to due process, safety, and dignity. Many deportees face discrimination and hardship upon return, including threats in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Restrictions on education and women’s rights in Afghanistan aggravate the vulnerability of deported families, potentially violating their social and economic rights [2].
The United Nations has reported human rights violations against Afghans forced to return to Afghanistan [1]. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that up to three million Afghans could return to Afghanistan by the end of the year due to deportations by Iran and Pakistan [1]. The UN specifically mentions that girls and women, those associated with the former government and its security forces, and media professionals or members of civil society are at risk in Afghanistan.
This crisis unfolds against the backdrop of Afghanistan being one of the poorest countries in the world, scarred by decades of war. The Iranian government has deported 1.2 million Afghan refugees in the past six months, and another 800,000 are planned to be deported by March [1]. People in Afghanistan have little hope of work and an uncertain future.
Iran, currently facing its worst economic crisis in history, primarily due to the nuclear dispute with the West and the resulting international sanctions, has reduced aid to Afghanistan after the Taliban took power in the summer of 2021 [1]. Many states and organizations have also reduced their aid to Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban government struggling to meet the basic needs of its citizens.
Many Afghan refugees in Iran are employed in the low-wage sector, working in small supermarkets or on construction sites. The policy is not related to "xenophobia," as stated by the Iranian news agency Irna [1]. However, the sharp increase in deportations reflects Iran’s tightened migration policies amid regional instability, creating a critical humanitarian challenge for Afghanistan.
- The tightened employment policies in Iran, driven by both domestic politics and economic pressures, have led to an influx of deported Afghan refugees returning to Afghanistan, causing competition for scarce resources in a country already struggling with high unemployment and economic collapse.
- The community policy in Iran, focusing on the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants, has raised concerns in the general-news and crime-and-justice sectors, as the mass returns have the potential to violate human rights and increase poverty risks, particularly in the context of Afghanistan's instability and lack of capacity to reinforce the migrants.
