Amnesty International says Bias Against Afghans Surges in Islamic Republic

August 16, 2024

The Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has warned against what it sees as a growing racist bias by both the Iranian government and society against Afghan refugees. In a statement issued August 4, the group said it “considers the treatment of Afghan migrants, and even Iranians with Afghan backgrounds, to be disastrous and warns of increasing state sanctioned and social racism against Afghan migrants.” Hengaw said, “In recent months, there has been a noticeable surge in anti-Afghan racism within both governmental and social spheres in Iran.

This includes the emergence of discourse on the expulsion of Afghan migrants in election debates within the Islamic Republic, followed by a rising demand for their expulsion on social media.” Amnesty International says bias against Afghans surges in Islamic Republic Just three days after Hengaw spoke out, the national police ordered all illegal aliens to leave Iran by next Now Ruz. It did not say what it would do if the illegal aliens didn’t all leave. But if the police had the ability to expel them all, they would be gone by now.

Hengaw said, “In many cases, despite decades of living and working in Iran, Afghan migrants do not have valid residency cards. They are not permitted to reside in 16 provinces of Iran, and apart from the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, and Qom, they are only allowed to reside in certain towns in other provinces.

 This has not only created conditions similar to apartheid for them in Iran but also, through governmental policies, is perpetually alienating the Afghan migrant community and violating their civil rights.” It added that it has learned that at least 25 Afghan prisoners have been executed in Iranian prisons in the past seven months.

 “Given the dire human rights situation for Afghans in their own country after the Taliban takeover,” Hengaw said, “the widespread demand for their expulsion [from Iran] and the toxic political rhetoric surrounding them could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe if not halted.” The picture painted by Hengaw completely contradicts the Islamic Republic’s constant boast of its kindly treatment of Afghans, which Tehran contrasts favorably with the way it says refugees are treated in the United States and Western Europe. At the same time, the regime boasts in domestic media about its unending efforts to expel illegal refugees.