TEHRAN — Iran is expelling 2,000 and 3,000 Afghan migrants each day, according to a diplomatic source at Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran, as a deadline for undocumented immigrants in Iran quietly expires.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that discussions between Iranian officials and representatives of the Taliban are ongoing but have yet to yield any tangible outcome.
One of the key holding sites before deportation is the Tanbako Camp in southern Tehran, a facility described by former detainees as a place of fear, uncertainty and separation. Migrants — both those returning voluntarily and others forced out — are processed and held there before being repatriated.
Among the deportees is Ghyasuddin, a 70-year-old man who has lived in exile for four decades. He once supported himself selling vegetables in the streets of Tehran. “Poverty drove me from my country,” he said. “Now, going back only means more poverty — and no protection.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that humanitarian needs in Afghanistan remain acute. For 2025, the agency has appealed for $216 million in aid to support essential services for displaced and vulnerable populations. So far, only 25 percent of that funding has been secured.
