Afghanistan and Iran share a language, and cultural and historical links. But hostility to the US role in Afghanistan, regional ambitions and an economy choked by Western sanctions have persuaded Iran to cast out Afghan migrants, to the dismay of those forced home and their government
GHAUS worked in Iran for five years but has nothing to show for it. All he has are memories of being jailed, beaten and sent home to Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s oil-rich western neighbour has for years been a destination for Afghans seeking work or fleeing war. Afghanistan and Iran share a language, and cultural and historical links. But hostility to the US role in Afghanistan, regional ambitions and an economy choked by Western sanctions have persuaded Iran to cast out Afghan migrants, to the dismay of those forced home and their government.
In May, Iran threatened to expel Afghan refugees and migrant workers, in all about 2.4 million people, if Afghanistan signed a strategic security pact with the United States. The deal was struck. “Afghan refugees and migrants are becoming the victims of big political games played between the Iranian and US powers,” said Abdul Samad Hami, Afghanistan’s deputy minister for refugees.
Few of the migrants, who pay smugglers about $700 to get across the 1,000 km (620 miles) border into Iran, know they have been caught up in a geopolitical power play. Barefoot and wearing a sun-bleached silver turban, Ghaus was huddled with about 20 other expelled migrants at a UN centre in the western Afghan city of Herat after being dumped out of a bus on the border. “Suddenly, my life came to an end,” the soft-spoken bricklayer said.
Ghaus is one of 191,121 unregistered Afghan migrants forced out of Iran from January to Sept 30 this year, according to the UN refugee agency, up 29 percent from last year. About 1.4 million migrant workers remain in Iran but hundreds of them are being expelled every day. There are also nearly a million Afghan refugees who are allowed to live there. Shuffling home through Herat’s Islam Qala border checkpoint, most of the returning migrants are young men dressed like Iranians in jeans and brightly coloured bomber jackets, but with bulging suitcases and bed-rolls on their heads.
Many migrants have called Iran home for decades, part of an exodus of nine million Afghans - a third of the population - who fled to neighbours Iran and Pakistan, beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979, through to the austere Taliban rule of the 1990s. The expulsions represent not just a burden for Afghanistan but also a loss of income, and could even spell more instability ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of 2014.
Related tags:
Latest news, world news, current affairs, breaking news, arab country news, daily news, Islamic news, india news, Pakistan news, , india Pakistan news, current news, news headlines, Latest World News,Articles,
Latest news, latest urdu news, world news, current affairs, breaking news, arab country news, sport news, cricket news, daily news, Islamic news, india news, Pakistan news, india Pakistan news, current news,Current affairs, Economic Affairs,Islam and Human Rights, Islam and Politics , Islam and the West, Muslim Media, Islamic Society, Islamic World,Latest World News, breaking news ,Top Breaking News, Current Affairs, daily news, recent news, news headlines
No comments:
Post a Comment