Iran expels half a million Afghans in 16-day stretch since recent conflict with Israel, UN says
Source: CNN
More than half a million Afghans have been expelled from Iran in the 16 days since the conflict with Israel ended, according to the United Nations, in what may be one of the largest forced movements of population this decade.
For months, Tehran has declared its intention to remove the millions of undocumented Afghans who carry out lower-paid labor across Iran, often in tough conditions.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said 508,426 Afghans have left Iran via the Iranian-Afghanistan border between June 24 and July 9.
A startling 33,956 crossed Wednesday and 30,635 on Tuesday, after a peak of 51,000 on Friday, ahead of a Sunday deadline from Iran for undocumented Afghans to leave.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/11/world/iran-expels-afghans-un-intl
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......... In total, more than 1.6 million Afghan refugees have returned from Iran and Pakistan this year alone, surpassing UNHCR’s forecasts halfway through 2025. The UN agency now predicts that as many as 3 million people could return to Afghanistan by the end of the year.
Arafat Jamal, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative in Afghanistan warned in a press briefing on Friday that Afghanistan remains “wholly unprepared” to receive the influx.
“We foresee dramatic challenges in housing, protecting and employing returnees, in a parched and stagnant nation,” he warned.
A recent UNDP report shows 70% of Afghans live at subsistence level, and the country is grappling with severe drought and a deteriorating human rights situation, especially for women and girls.
