paid when workers in the construction sector are killed or disabled in accidents. Informed reports have suggested increased use of drugs to sustain long and hard working days. Iranian women who marry Afghan men lose their Iranian citizenship. If involuntary returns are instituted, such families risk being sent to Afghanistan. Estimates of the number of persons who may be affected vary markedly, but a reasonable figure suggests 30,000.
….By mid-2003, all Afghans residing in Iran were asked to re-register with the authorities. Those with refugee documents were obliged to hand in their refugee cards and received in return only temporary residence permits, with no time for staying or leaving specified. The number of registered Afghans at that time totalled 2.3 million. Of these, UNHCR considers 1.1 million to be refugees or otherwise ‘of concern’ to its mandate” [2]. This left over 1 million “registered” Afghans without any protection from deportation. Add the unregistered Afghan immigrants and one gets close to two million or more people who have no legal status in the country (illegal aliens).
When confronted with the allegation of maltreatment of Afghan refugees in Iran, Iranian government claims that it has born a very large burden for a long-time without much international assistance. It claims that it has done more than its share for the country and it can no longer curry this burden alone.
As far as the international assistance is concerned the government is right. It has not received the assistance that it needs. It is also fair to say that it has kept its doors open to refugees from both Iraq and Afghanistan. With regards to helping Afghanistan, Iran has done more than any other country in the region. Since 2001, Afghanistan has received over $4.5 billion in aid from Iran, which it has spent constructing more than 1000 schools, government buildings and clinics and paved some 1,200 kilometres (more than 730 miles) of roads [3].
The biggest problem with the Iranian government refugee/immigration policy has been that of not having one. It is quite clear that Iran is and will continue to be a magnet for Afghans. The government knows that refugees or immigrants will not voluntarily return to a country where there is no infrastructure, housing, education, healthcare or jobs for them.
The successive Iranian governments have done very little in planning for integration of these refugees into the Iranian society. The government can not deny that the country has benefited greatly from this cheap labour pool. It also can not deny that the majority of Afghans in Iran are law abiding, hardworking people. The government has done very little in changing the negative image of these people. At times it has even contributed to it.
A large number of these immigrants have been in Iran for a long time, and their children have been borne in Iran. These children know nothing about Afghanistan. They rightfully consider themselves as Iranians. It is inhumane to just deport these people. And where and what are they going to?
To solve some of the existing problems, the government should declare an amnesty for the illegal aliens that have been in the country for the past seven years. In this way, the possibility of these people engaging in illegal activities will be greatly reduced. It should also offer citizenship to those who have been legally in the country for the past seven years. How long should a person live in the country before it can become a citizen? Under the current arrangement the Afghans will never become eligible for citizenship. It is reprehensible to keep such a large number of people in legal limbo for such a long time.
It should force the labour unions to enforce the minimum wage laws for all workers, especially the Afghans. In this way, the native Iranians will not see the Afghans as undercutting their wages. It should also vigorously persecute those that are (so openly) abusing these people. Iranian government should not forget that there are a few million Iranians living in Europe and America. I am sure that it would not appreciate similar treatments for its own emigrants.
The recent reports of large scale deportation, heavy handed and at times brutal treatment of deportees is highly troubling. Iranian government should know that deporting one million people without proper planning is going to cause great hardship for these people. Afghan government can not handle such large number of returnees. It even can not care for its internally displaced population, let alone one million more returning from Iran.
Iran has done a lot for Afghanistan and should do more. If it deports such a large number of people without providing adequate provisions for them in Afghanistan, it will create a humanitarian catastrophe that will (rightly) bring shame to Iran. It is not that long ago that Afghanistan was part of Iran. Afghans are Iranians’ brothers and as such should be respected and treated with respect and compassion. I urge the Iranian government to immediately stop the deportations and reconsider its immigration policies. I also hope that this message is taken-up by Iranians abroad. I hope that they also write to Iranian government and urge them to reconsider their actions. In conclusion I would like to cite sura 002.177 from the Holy Quran:
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteousness is this that one should believe in God and the last day and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the captives, and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate; and the performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in distress and affliction and in time of conflicts-- these are they who are true (to themselves) and these are they who guard (against evil).”
Copyright Abbas Bakhtiar, all rights reserved.
[1] UNHCR, “Afghan Refugee Statistics: February 2005”
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=SUBSITES&id=421316072
[2] International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, “Afghan Refugees in Iran: From Refugee Emergency to Migration Management”, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Development Studies and Human Rights, 16 June 2004.
