Iran Faces Labor Shortages After Deporting Afghan Migrants

Kokcha News Agency: Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, Deputy Interior Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, revealed that the deportation of Afghan migrants has caused labor shortages in several provinces across the country. He noted that many employers in Iran preferred hiring Afghan workers due to their availability and willingness to work in various sectors.

In an interview with state media, Pourjamshidian stated that before the deportation operations began, over 6.5 million Afghans were present in Iran, with “approximately 2 million of them having entered the country illegally.”

The Iranian official described undocumented Afghan migrants as a major issue for the Islamic Republic, emphasizing that they must be deported. Pourjamshidian claimed that a significant number of undocumented Afghan migrants have voluntarily returned to Afghanistan.

The Deputy Interior Minister added that those who have left Iran voluntarily “can return to Iran if they obtain the necessary permits and meet the required conditions.”

Earlier, Jafar Seyed Abadi, Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs in Khorasan Razavi Province, announced that three to four thousand Afghans are being deported daily through the Dogharoon border crossing into Afghanistan. He stated that the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants will continue until the end of the current Iranian calendar year (September 2024).

According to Seyed Abadi, since the beginning of the current Iranian year, 844,000 undocumented Afghan migrants have been deported through the Dogharoon border crossing.