Iran, Tehran pushes to repatriate Afghan refugees: even children are excluded from schools

KABUL (AsiaNews/Agencies) – School has started in Iran, but not for Afghan refugee children in the country. Several families said that, due to increasingly stringent rules and ever-higher school fees, their children are being denied enrollment in school. “Despite having a letter from the Ministry of Education, the school principal told me there was no place and refused to enroll them,” he told AmuTV Jamshid, who has been living in Iran for three years. Like him, most of the refugees fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban regime, which regained control of the country in August 2021. Since then, around half the population has found itself in a situation of serious food insecurity, and according to United Nations approximately 85% live on less than a dollar a day.

Forced to buy a $1,700 “smart card”. Jamshid added that this year only his daughters were accepted, as opposed to his two sons. Some Iranian provinces, including Kerman, Shiraz and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad have reportedly refused to enroll Afghan students who only have basic documentation, the exile newspaper writes. The reformist newspaper Ham-Mihan wrote that now, to stay in Iran, Afghan migrants are forced to buy a “smart card” that costs one billion rials (about $1,700). However, several Afghan refugees avoid registering with UN agencies or the Iranian authorities because they fear being registered and expelled, or because they hope that Iran is just a transit country towards Europe.

Out of 1.5 million children, only 600 thousand are enrolled in school. In June, the humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council had reported that of over 1.5 million Afghan children present in Iran (out of a total of around 4.5 million refugees, although the real number is probably much higher), only 600 thousand were enrolled in school for the year school year 2023-24. The Iranian Ministry of Education, however, said that 556,000 pupils with valid documents had access to education last year. “Most Afghan families have their papers in order, but due to repatriation pressure, many provinces do not allow students to enroll,” explained Nahid Masoudi, an advocate for the rights of Afghan refugees in Iran.

16 Iranian provinces banned from the Afghans. According to data dating back to 2023, Iran is the country hosting the highest number of Afghans together with Pakistan and the topic has been debated at an internal level for some time. Local media report daily news of crimes allegedly involving citizens of Afghanistan, also blamed on the difficult situation in the labor market or on bringing infectious diseases. Last year, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced that Afghans would no longer be allowed to live in at least 16 provinces of the country.

1.3 million irregular migrants sent back to Afghanistan. In May, the Home Office said around 1.3 million “irregular migrants” had been sent back to Afghanistan in the past year. According to some reports, they were 20 thousand children were also repatriatedmany of whom are unaccompanied, and also descendants of Afghan citizens who do not know their country of origin.

With the new president Pezeshkian, expulsions increase. With the election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, the push for expulsion has further increased: the repatriation of another 2 million Afghans in six months was recently announced. Earlier this month, the Iranian parliament proposed reducing the “foreign population” (general terms used to refer to Afghan refugees) by 10% a year. If the legislation is approved, local authorities will have to ensure that “foreign citizens” do not exceed 3% of the population in any city or province.

Those 10 km of wall to divide. In the meantime, the construction of the first 10 kilometers of a concrete wall has been completed which will seal the north-eastern border between the two countries, the one most used by refugees. Brigadier General Nozar Nemati explained to local media that: “The wall will improve the security of the country and the border areas, while having a positive impact on the economy.”