Taliban raise concerns over ‘brutal treatment’ of Afghan refugees in Iran

Afghan protestors throw stones at the building of Iranian consulate during a demonstration against the alleged published reports of harassment of Afghan refugees in Iran, in Herat, Afghanistan, on April 11, 2022. (AFP)

• Videos allegedly showing Afghan refugees being beaten by Iranians have gone viral
• Iranian authorities deny mistreatment, Afghan Ministry of Refugees says investigating

KABUL: Taliban authorities said on Wednesday they were “deeply saddened” after videos allegedly showing Afghan refugees being beaten by Iranians went viral over the weekend.
The videos made the rounds over the weekend, showing alleged Iranian border guards and Iranian mobs beating Afghan refugees. It was unclear when the footage was filmed. 
The viral footage prompted a wave of protests targeting Iranian diplomatic missions in Kabul and Herat on Monday. In Herat, angry demonstrators chanted “death to Iran” as they pelted the consulate with rocks.
Iran has for decades hosted millions of refugees from Afghanistan. The foreign ministry in Tehran said last week the number had jumped to 5 million from nearly 4 million before the Taliban regained power after the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan last August.
While Iranian authorities have denied the mistreatment of Afghans, the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations in Kabul has said it was investigating the matter.
“We are deeply saddened by the videos of the brutal treatment of refugees in Iran, which are circulating in the media,” Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, the ministry’s director of information and public relations, told Arab News.
He said representatives of the Iranian Embassy had been summoned by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kabul’s envoy on refugee affairs had spoken to authorities in Tehran.
“We were assured that this kind of behavior would stop,” Haqqani said, adding that officials from Kabul were planning to visit Iran, meet with the Afghans there, and hold a trilateral meeting with Iranian authorities and the UN refugee agency to discuss the matter.
Following the violent protests in Afghan cities, Iran briefly suspended consular services in the neighboring country and summoned the Afghan charge d’affaires in Tehran.
Several allegations of mistreatment of Afghans in Iran have emerged in recent years.
In August 2020, reports that dozens of Afghan nationals were tortured by Iranian border guards and thrown into a river that flows between the two countries made headlines worldwide.
Jawad, a 26-year-old who was deported from Iran last month, said he had experienced “inhumane” treatment.
“They don’t give us visas at the first place, and when we enter the country illegally, they beat us and treat us like animals,” he told Arab News. “The security officials close to the border beat us and warned us that they will shoot us next time.”