Afghanske flygtninge bliver smidt ud af Iran efter at være nægtet asyl. Human Right Watch opfordrer til, at Iran stopper deportationerne, så længe flygtningene ikke har mulighed for at få en reel behandling af deres asylansøgninger
KABUL 10. september: Iranian authorities should shelve plans to expel hundreds of thousands of Afghans after their visas were set to expire on September 6, 2013, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
Iran should not expel any Afghan refugee until a system is in place that allows asylum seekers to have their asylum claims considered fairly and to challenge any order to deport them.
The September 6 deadline passed without any Iranian government statement about whether and how it may carry out the deportations. Prior to September 6, the Afghan government asked the Iranian government to extend the deadline, sending a delegation to Tehran for this purpose, Afghan government sources told Human Rights Watch.
The Afghan government is still awaiting a response to this request. Security conditions in Afghanistan coupled with the absence of a fair asylum process in Iran means that any mass deportation of Afghans would amount to a serious violation of international law.
The Afghan government had estimated that 300,000 Afghan visa holders would be required to leave Iran by September 6 if no extension is granted. Hundreds of thousands more undocumented Afghans could ultimately be affected.
“Afghans in Iran are caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.” Regardless of whether the September 6 deadline will be extended or not, the Iranian government seems eager to abruptly push them back across the border at a time when security conditions in Afghanistan are increasingly uncertain and dangerous.”
At a minimum, the Iranian government should fairly consider the claims of anyone facing deportation who says they will be harmed upon their return, Human Rights Watch said.
On August 24, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that all undocumented Afghans and those holding temporary visas under a government program to register undocumented foreigners should leave Iran before their visas expire on September 6 or face imprisonment, fines, and ultimately expulsion.
An Iranian government website confirmed this but said that Afghanistan’s ambassador to Tehran had asked Iran to extend the visas beyond September 6. Afghan government sources say this request has yet to receive a response. Iranian government officials have not publicly confirmed whether the September 6 deadline has been suspended or extended.
If no visa extension is granted, hundreds of thousands of Afghans will be obliged to leave Iran this week. Only around 800,000 of the 3 million Afghans estimated to live in Iran have legal status as refugees.
Another 400,000 to 600,000 Afghans hold temporary visas, while others are undocumented. Many are migrant workers
