Kabul: Taliban officials said on Wednesday they were deeply saddened by reports of abuse of Afghan refugees in Iran, with civilians being harassed by men posing as Iranian security forces in videos circulating on social media.
Videos went viral over the weekend, showing men and civilians in Iranian border guard uniforms beating up Afghan refugees. When the footage went viral, it sparked a wave of protests on Monday targeting Iranian diplomatic missions in Kabul and Herat. In Herat, angry protesters chanted “death to Iran” and pelted stones at the consulate.
While Iranian officials denied mistreatment of Afghans, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation in Kabul said it was investigating the matter.
Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, the ministry’s director of information and public relations, told Arab News: “We are deeply saddened by the video of the brutal treatment of refugees in Iran circulating in the media.”
He said representatives of the Iranian embassy were called by the Afghan foreign ministry and the Kabul envoy on refugee affairs spoke to officials in Tehran.
“We were assured that this kind of behavior would stop.”
Haqqani said officials in Kabul are planning to visit Iran, meet Afghans there and hold a tripartite meeting with Iranian officials and the UN refugee agency to discuss the matter.
After violent protests in Afghan cities, Iran also temporarily suspended consular services in the neighboring country and summoned the Afghan charge d’affaires in Tehran.
There have been several allegations of mistreatment of Afghans in Iran in recent years. In August 2020, reports that dozens of Afghan citizens were tortured by Iranian border guards and thrown into a river flowing between the two countries made headlines around the world.
Jawad, 26, who was extradited from Iran last month, said he experienced “inhuman” treatment.
“They don’t give us visas in the first place, and when we enter the country illegally, they beat us up and treat us like animals,” he told Arab News. “Security officers close to the border beat us up and warned us they would shoot us next time.”
Iran has hosted millions of refugees from Afghanistan for decades. The foreign ministry in Tehran said last week that the number had risen from about four million to five million before the Taliban came to power in August.