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Iranwire – More than 1,300 Iranian and Afghan activists, filmmakers, and journalists have signed an open letter condemning the Islamic Republic’s treatment of Afghan migrants and demanding immediate policy changes.
The signatories, including actress Taraneh Alidoosti and filmmaker Leili Farhadpour, accused Iran’s government of “inhumane and hostile” treatment of Afghan migrants following the 12-day war with Israel.
The letter states that Afghan migrants have been falsely accused of espionage and infiltration without evidence since the war began.
It describes the treatment as a systematic targeting of the country’s most vulnerable migrant population.
The activists said that detention methods used against migrants – including those with legal documentation – have created “enormous terror and vulnerability” among Afghans living in Iran, many of whom have been there for generations.
Recent social media reports and images showing the arrests and deportations of Afghan migrants have drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups.
The letter argues that Iran’s government is scapegoating Afghan migrants for Israel’s attack as a means of taking revenge on “the most voiceless and oppressed” group.
The signatories said the phrase “deportation of illegal migrants” is being used as a cover for widespread violence against all migrants.
They urged Iranian citizens to speak out against these policies, warning that silence could be interpreted as public support for the government’s actions.
“The injustice inflicted on Afghans and other voiceless minorities destroys humanity, justice-seeking, and freedom,” the statement read.
The activists called for an end to the “savage and inhumane methods of arrest, transfer, and detention in camps.”
Iran has ordered more than four million Afghan migrants to leave the country by July 6, in what could become one of the largest forced deportations in the region in years.
Nader Yar Ahmadi, head of the Interior Ministry’s Office for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants, said the deadline applies to Afghans without valid residency documents, as well as those whose census registration papers have expired.
About 2.03 million Afghan nationals currently hold expired census documents, and another 2 million are living in Iran illegally, Yar Ahmadi said in an interview last month.
Iranian authorities reported that more than 2 million Afghans entered the country after the Taliban took power in 2021, adding to the many who had arrived over recent decades.
