The end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran has ushered in a period of intensified repression. Iranian society, as a result, is now more heavily securitized and policed. Amidst this heightened repression, Afghan migrants, who have long been among the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in Iran, find themselves a primary target of state repression and mass deportations. State actions against Afghan refugees and migrants are not only in violation of fundamental human rights principles but are also being carried out in a context defined by structural violence, systemic racism, and institutionalized injustice.
According to Iran’s Minister of Interior, approximately 800,000 Afghan migrants have been returned to Afghanistan in recent weeks under what the government describes as a “voluntary return” program, claiming that 80% of them “turned themselves in.”
However, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has voiced serious concerns, reporting that nearly 70% of those deported were forcibly removed. The agency further warned that conditions in Iran’s border camps are inhumane and devoid of even the most basic necessities, such as shelter, clean water, sanitation, and medical care.
Footage and testimonies from border camps in Sistan and Baluchestan and South Khorasan provinces reveal catastrophic humanitarian conditions. Thousands of migrants are being exposed to extreme hardship, with no access to electricity, clean drinking water, adequate food, or medical services.
According to documented reports, the inhumane conditions have already resulted in tragic loss of life. In one instance, Baqer Rezayi, a 60-year-old Afghan migrant, died from extreme heat and dehydration in the Zabol migrant camp, in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. His son told media outlets that at least eight more people have died in the same camp due to thirst and heat exposure.
State Media, Forced Confessions, and Hate Propaganda
Racist campaigns targeting Afghan migrants, which had already intensified over the past two years, escalated sharply following the outbreak of the Iran-Israel conflict, fueled by unverified reports alleging that some Afghans had been arrested on charges of espionage for Israel.
Several state-controlled and pro-regime media outlets aired programs on national television accusing Afghan migrants of collaborating with Israeli intelligence. A particularly disturbing example was the broadcast of televised confessions by two Afghan migrants, accused by security agencies of working with Mossad. These orchestrated confessions are widely viewed as part of a deliberate propaganda campaign aimed at legitimizing the mass expulsion and dehumanization of Afghan migrants.
This hostile media environment has also fueled online hate campaigns, which in turn have manifested in real-world violence and discrimination. Afghan migrants now face physical assaults in public, verbal abuse on public transportation, denial of medical treatment, and even refusals by bakeries to sell them bread. It is a disturbing glimpse into the depth of societal exclusion they are experiencing.
Tragically, this growing climate of hate has already led to loss of life. The killings of two young Afghan migrants, Kobra Rezayi and Amir Taha Rezayi, along with the disappearance of 15-year-old Farideh Mohammadi, serve as grave warnings about the life-threatening dangers now facing Afghan migrants across Iran.
A System of Uncertainty: Afghan Migrants and Iran’s Restrictive Immigration Policies
Iran has one of the most restrictive immigration systems in the region. Since 2012 (1391), there has been no clear or consistent pathway for Afghan migrants to legalize their residency. The only available option has been through periodic “census registration” programs, ad hoc initiatives characterized by ambiguity, limited rights, and a lack of legal guarantees.
In 2016 (1395), the Iranian government launched a migrant registration program under the pretext of supporting public vaccination and universal education. A similar initiative followed in 2021 (1400), registering over two million Afghan migrants who hoped the process would lead to legal residency or Amayesh (residency) cards.
But in 2025 (1404), authorities abruptly invalidated all census documents, stripping thousands, including many who had paid substantial fees of their legal status. This sudden move reclassified them as “undocumented”, leaving them once again vulnerable to arbitrary detention and deportation, and deepening their legal and social precarity.
Legal and Geographic Restrictions
Since 2014 (1393), Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has issued directives banning Afghan nationals from residing or working in nine provinces. In 2023 (1402), these restrictions were significantly expanded, and are now officially enforced in 16 provinces, with unofficial implementation reported in several cities in other provinces across the country.
As a result, Afghan migrants are either barred or restricted from living or working in 21 of Iran’s 31 provinces, a striking indicator of systemic exclusion. Cities such as Neishabour, Qom, Isfahan, Karaj, and Shiraz have even come to be referred to on social media as “Afghan-free zones,” reflecting the growing marginalization, stigmatization, and spatial segregation of Afghan communities in Iran.
Restrictions on Education and Citizenship for Children
Children born in Iran to Afghan fathers and Iranian mothers are not automatically granted Iranian citizenship. Although a 2019 law allowed children of Iranian women and foreign fathers to apply for citizenship, Article 41 of the National Migration Organization Law, ratified on November 13, 2022, effectively closed this legal pathway, leaving many children in limbo.
For years, children from families without official residency documents have been barred from enrolling in public schools. More recently, a document known as the “education support form” has enabled some of these children to register. However, this form is not accessible by all, continues to be limited, and is not guaranteed for all Afghan children.
Field reports reveal that many schools, especially in provinces such as Qom, Razavi Khorasan, and Yazd, formally or informally refuse enrollment to Afghan students. This widespread exclusion deepens a cycle of marginalization, denying children their basic right to education and entrenching long-term social and economic disadvantage.
Discrimination in Employment and Property Ownership
Under regulations issued by Iran’s Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare, Afghan nationals are restricted to a narrow list of manual, low-skilled jobs, including construction work, waste collection, and agriculture. This list is updated annually and explicitly excludes Afghan migrants from employment in fields such as education, healthcare, technology, and even taxi driving, regardless of their qualifications.
Beyond employment, Afghan migrants face severe restrictions on property and financial rights. Foreign nationals in Iran are prohibited from owning immovable property, such as homes, land, or commercial buildings. In the case of Afghans, these limitations are even more severe: they are barred from buying vehicles, signing official rental contracts, and accessing basic banking services. These layered restrictions leave Afghan migrants in a highly insecure legal and economic position, perpetuating dependence, exploitation, and social exclusion.
Forced Return of Afghan Migrants: An Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in the Shadow of War and Politics
Afghan migrants forcibly returned from Iran are often met with uncertain, unstable, and dangerous conditions upon arrival. A report released on July 24, 2025, by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Human Rights Office highlights extensive human rights violations against Afghans forcibly returned from Pakistan and Iran. The documented abuses by Taliban authorities include torture, mistreatment, arbitrary detention, and threats to personal safety. The report notes that women, girls, and individuals with ties to the former government or civil society are especially at risk of gender-based persecution.
Even before the onset of mass deportations, Afghanistan was already facing a profound economic crisis, marked by widespread unemployment, severe housing shortages, and chronic food insecurity.
Now, with millions of Afghans returning from Iran, Pakistan, and Georgia, the burden on the country’s fragile infrastructure, overstretched informal labor market, and scarce public resources has grown dramatically, pushing the nation closer to a humanitarian tipping point.
While in Iran, many of these migrants, though restricted to low-paying, manual labor, still had access to basic shelter, income, and a degree of physical safety. In contrast, their return to Afghanistan has left them with no employment prospects, no secure housing, and little to no access to essential services. For many, deportation does not mean returning home; it means entering a new phase of vulnerability, displacement, and survival.
The Double Burden on Women and Children
Women and children are among the most severely affected by the forced return of Afghan migrants. They are being sent back to a country where, especially under Taliban rule, official policies strip women of their most basic human rights.
In today’s Afghanistan, women are banned from appearing in public without a male guardian, and teenage girls who once attended school in Iran are now returning to a society where secondary schools and universities are closed to them. For many, early and forced marriage is a looming and likely reality. Femena has documented 130 edicts issued by the Taliban that affect the full spectrum of women’s rights. Most recently, the Taliban banned women’s medical training—the only pathway for female healthcare providers—and even restricted women’s voices and windows facing women-only spaces.
For women and girls, forced return is not merely a geographic relocation; it is a direct descent into systemic oppression, where education, freedom, and personal safety are stripped away. Under the Taliban’s rule, many face a future devoid of autonomy and opportunity.
Compounding this crisis is the plight of children born and raised in Iran, many of whom have never set foot in Afghanistan. These children face profound identity, cultural, and educational dislocation. They are unfamiliar with Afghanistan’s language, social norms, and school system, and are often viewed as outsiders by local communities. This deep disconnect puts them at significant risk of social exclusion, school dropout, poverty, and exploitation.
The forced return of Afghan migrants, particularly women and children, goes far beyond physical displacement. It exposes them to entrenched social, economic, and psychological vulnerabilities, undoing years of fragile stability and subjecting them to new forms of hardship in a country many no longer recognize as home.
Widespread Protests by Iranian Civil Society Against Racist Policies and Forced Deportations
As anti-Afghan sentiment intensifies across Iran, civil society has begun to mobilize in defiance of this growing wave of violence and discrimination. In recent weeks, the government’s aggressive policies, marked by forced deportations, arbitrary arrests, and widespread harassment of Afghan migrants, have triggered a groundswell of protest and solidarity.
Activists, journalists, artists, and women’s rights organizations have united to condemn these actions, calling for an immediate end to racist and exclusionary policies. Through public statements, campaigns, and social media advocacy, they are demanding protection for Afghan communities and reaffirming their commitment to justice, dignity, and human rights for all.
Civil Society Statements Condemn Deportations and Call for Action
In a widely circulated statement signed by over 1,300 citizens, including civil society activists, artists, and journalists, signatories called on the Iranian public to speak out against the injustice of forced deportations. They urged people to break the cycle of silence and indifference through peaceful civic action, stressing the moral responsibility to stand with Afghan communities under threat.
A second, more forceful statement, signed by over 500 women’s rights activists, voiced stronger condemnation of the government’s anti-migrant policies. The declaration reads:
“We condemn, with anger and alarm, the intensifying policies of deporting Afghan migrants from Iran. What is being presented as the ‘regulation of undocumented foreigners’ is, in reality, a deliberate project to erase marginalized bodies, suppress dissent, and reproduce a national and gendered order in Iran.”
These statements reflect a growing wave of resistance within Iranian civil society, demanding justice, inclusion, and the protection of human rights and dignity for all, regardless of nationality or status.
The signatories further called for the recognition of core rights, including residency, education, employment, and the right to a dignified life, for all Afghan migrants, particularly those born and raised in Iran. The statement also emphasized that migrant women and girls must have the right to make autonomous decisions about their futures, free from coercion or discrimination.
While these protests have yet to result in a fundamental shift in state policy, mounting public pressure has led to official claims of limited reforms. In response to criticism, the Iranian government recently announced that, due to extreme heat and inadequate border infrastructure, the legal deadline for migrant returns has been temporarily extended by two months, a move widely seen as insufficient in addressing the broader humanitarian concerns.
According to Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture (CAT), no person shall be returned to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. In light of the current conditions in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, the forced return of Afghan migrants, particularly women and children, represents a clear violation of this international obligation.
Moreover, under the 1951 Refugee Convention, state parties are obligated to grant individuals the right to seek asylum and to provide access to fair and transparent procedures for the determination of refugee status, including the opportunity to obtain legal residency where protection needs are established.
The Iranian government must provide Afghan migrants with a genuine opportunity to seek asylum or legally extend their stay, and must establish transparent, fair, and rights-based procedures for reviewing their cases, in full compliance with international legal obligations.
The Iranian government must end its discriminatory and anti-migrant policies and implement a comprehensive legal framework that enables migrants to live lawfully and with dignity in the country. This framework must guarantee equal access to fundamental rights and public services, including housing, education, healthcare, and legal protection, in line with international human rights standards.
As a feminist organization committed to defending women’s rights, we at Femena, express our deep and urgent concern over the fate of Afghan women and children being forcibly returned to Afghanistan. We call on the international community to take meaningful action to uphold the fundamental rights of Afghan women, including their freedom of movement, access to education, and the right to work and live with dignity.