Illegal migration of Afghans to neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan has been a common trend since Afghanistan started to become instable and insecure. Their journey has been perilous causing death and injuries to them. Although after the ouster of Taliban from government, the international community extended its presence in the country and provided financial and non-financial support to development and reconstruction of Afghanistan, illegal migration of Afghans continue.
On May 12, 2013, a group including hundreds of Afghans tried to cross into Iran and did not succeed. The Iranian border guards opened fire at them killing at least ten of them and injuring many others. Such act of brutality should be expected from a country like Iran where the regulations regarding the rights of Afghan migrants are very strict. The Afghan public and senate have harshly criticized this inhumane act, albeit the Afghan government continues to remain ‘mum.’
The punishment of crossing into an Islamic country - that is not only a close neighbor but also calls itself a supporting friend of Afghanistan – should not be death or permanent disability. Iranian forces have been involved in targeting Afghans who try to cross the border line between Afghanistan and Iran, mostly illegally. Misery doubles when the relatives and friends of Afghans who are either killed by Iranian security guards at the border or hanged by Iranian authorities, have to wait impatiently for weeks or even months to receive dead bodies of their beloved ones.
Had their own country provided them job and security, they would never attempt to leave it for a country like Iran whose government treats them extremely inhumanely and whose hands never shake while shooting at them. Poverty, unemployment and high prices of basic necessities cause hundreds of thousands of Afghans to leave their homeland every year at the risk of their lives. They travel, mostly illegally, in search of jobs to neighboring and other countries of the world.
As compared to other countries of the world, the condition of Afghan refugees in Iran has been upsetting and disappointing. The Iranian authorities have been involved in time to time killings of Afghan refugees. Several Afghans have returned home with abnormal minds and serious psychological problems. They have become so as a result of brutal punishments by Iranian security forces. Iran keeps Afghan refugees in inhumane conditions in different detention centers that lack arrangements for food, water, medical services and other basic necessities.
Afghan government has never objected the Islamic Republic’s terrible attitude towards Afghans. The stance of Afghan government on the killing and harsh treatment of Afghans in Iran has been pathetic. It does not want to annoy Tehran for what it might consider ‘minor issues.’