4,559 Afghan refugees expelled from Iran, Pakistan: Taliban

Kabul, July 5 (IANS) The Taliban-led government in Kabul has claimed that 4,559 Afghan refugees were expelled from Iran and Pakistan in the last three days.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR) said on Monday that majority of the expelled refugees returned from Iran after a census conducted by the Tehran government, reports TOLO News.

The Iranian government urged Afghan authorities to stop illegal travel.

"With the start of the census process of Afghans, the deporting of Afghans without legal documents has increased. The government of Iran counts people who do not take part in the census as illegal refugees," said Asefa Stanekzai, a representative for Afghan refugees in Iran.

The development comes as the UN and Amnesty International have urged the host countries to stop eviction and migration of Afghan refugees and as well as violating of their rights.

According to the UNHCR, Afghan refugees are the third-largest displaced population in the world, followed by Syrian refugees and displaced Venezuelans.

There are 2.6 million registered Afghan refugees in the world, of whom 2.2 million are registered in Iran and Pakistan alone.

After the Taliban took over in August last year, 667,900 Afghans were internally displaced, which added to the already 3.5 million internally displaced civilians at the end of 2020.

Eighty per cent of the newly displaced Afghans are women and children.