Iran Focus
London, 9 Jan – It has been reported that the number of Afghans that have been forced to leave Iran has dramatically increased over the past year. Figures show that around 775,000 Afghans left last year alone.
One of the main factors in this is the sanctions that were reimposed by the United States and the resolve of the Trump administration to addressing the Iran threat.
The Iranian economy is in tatters and the national currency – the rial – has plummeted. Inflation has spiralled out of control and poverty is increasing at an alarming rate.
The number of Afghans forced to leave the country in 2018 is much higher than that of the year before. The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) chief of mission in Afghanistan Laurence Hart indicated that the figure rose by 66 per cent.
He explained that “reduced economic opportunities” are forcing people back.
To put the figures into context, the IOM indicated that less than 30,000 Afghans have returned from Pakistan where they took refuge after the 1979 Soviet invasion.
The IOM said last year that there are between an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million unregistered or “undocumented” Afghans living in Iran. There are a further one million that are officially registered as refugees.
The majority of these people have gone to Iran in search of a better life and better opportunities, but the reality is very dire. They are badly mistreated and neglected by the authorities.
A lot of migrants have fled Afghanistan because they have been affected by the most catastrophic drought their country has ever faced.
And of course, the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan that has been going on for 17 years is also another factor. The employment situation there is understandably dire given the economic climate.
These factors have resulted in many people fleeing in search of any kind of hope that would give them a better life.
The Revolutionary Guards’ capitalises on this and has sent many Afghans to conflict zones to act on its behalf.
Pressure is being put on the Iranian dictators by the people of Iran who have been protesting and holding anti-government demonstrations for the past year. They are calling for regime change because they know it is the only option that will result in freedom, democracy and the respect for human rights.
International pressure, which is mainly being administered by the United States, is essential. Although the people of Iran are adversely affected by the Trump administration’s actions and sanctions, they welcome it all. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the main opposition to the Iranian theocracy, and the only viable one, has called on the EU to follow in the footsteps of the Trump administration.
The mullahs have been enjoying impunity for decades of crimes and it is only fair on all of their victims, too many to even count, that they are finally held accountable. The people of Iran deserve their freedom and human rights that will be restored when the Religious Fascism finally collapses.
