Hajar Shadmani and her family stood for hours under the scorching sun and thick haze at the Islam Qala border crossing, huddled beside a pile of suitcases containing what little remainsof their life in Iran. The 19-year-old, along with her three brothers, is among the tens of thousands of Afghans who have crossed back into Afghanistan in recent days—many, according to the UN and the Taliban authorities, under forced deportation orders.
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Refugees in the back of trucks in the Islam Qala crossing
(Photo: Wakil Kohsar / AFP)
Born in Iran to parents who fled Afghanistan more than 40 years ago, Shadmani says her family was never truly accepted. When Iranian police came to their home in Shiraz and ordered them to leave, they had no choice. Her Afghan ancestry notwithstanding, the land is completely unfamiliar to her. “We have nothing here,” she said.
Both Iran and Pakistan have long hosted millions of Afghan refugees escaping decades of war and poverty. But in 2023—two years after the Taliban seized power and brought Afghanistan’s civil war to an end—both countries began aggressively pushing refugees out, despite the worsening humanitarian crisis inside Afghanistan.
Over the past year, deportations from both nations have surged. According to the UN refugee agency, 1.2 million Afghans were expelled from Iran and Pakistan in the first half of this year alone. As of Monday, the agency reported that at least 691,049 people had returned from Iran, nearly 70% of them forcibly removed. The pace has accelerated in recent weeks, ahead of a July 6 deadline set by Iranian authorities requiring all undocumented Afghans to leave the country. In April, Iran estimated that 2.5 million of the six million Afghans residing there lacked legal status.
Even amid Iran’s war with Israel, deportations not only continued—they intensified. UN data shows that 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June alone, with a peak of nearly 30,000 deportations per day last week. While none of the dozen deportees interviewed by AFP explicitly tied their removal to the 12-day war, many suspect the conflict has increased government pressure.
Additionally, unverified reports have surfaced in Iranian media accusing some Afghan refugees of spying for Israel. Iran International, a Persian-language opposition outlet based in London, claimed that several Afghan nationals were arrested in a recent wave of detentions and charged with collaborating with Mossad. State-run Iranian broadcasters aired footage of two Afghan men allegedly confessing to links with Israel—though these so-called confessions have not been independently verified.
Some Iranians have spoken out against the portrayal of Afghans as security threats. Rasoul Mousavi, a former senior diplomat, published a defense of Afghan refugees, urging the public to reject such narratives. “As someone who has worked closely on Afghan affairs and knows many Afghans personally,” he wrote in an op-ed translated by Iran International, “I can confidently say their hatred of Israeli spies and enemies of Iran and Islam is no less than ours—perhaps even greater.”
Yet the deportations continue, despite the bleak conditions awaiting returnees. Afghanistan remains gripped by humanitarian collapse. Half the country’s population now depends on international aid, which has dwindled due to Taliban restrictions on NGOs and global funding cuts. “Afghan families are being uprooted again, arriving with little, exhausted, hungry, and afraid of what awaits them in a country many have never seen before,” said Arafat Jamal, the UN’s refugee coordinator in Kabul.
At the border, Taliban fighters greeted the returnees with slogans of reassurance. “Come back and live in peace,” they said. Yet fear lingers. Shadmani, like many Afghan women and girls, is terrified of life under Taliban rule, which has walked back its promises on women’s rights. Since retaking power in 2021, the group has imposed sweeping restrictions on education, employment, and freedom of movement for women. “I love studying. I wanted to continue—but in Afghanistan, I don’t think I can,” she said, adding that even in Iran, some universities refused to accept her.
Yadulallah Alizadeh, another deportee, told AFP he had worked odd jobs in Iran until police arrested him at a construction site. He was taken to a detention center and then expelled, leaving his family behind. He now sleeps on a piece of cardboard near the border, waiting. “My three kids are still there. They’re all sick and have no way to contact me.” He hopes to return to home province of Daykundi, located in central Afghanistan, but job prospects are grim in a country plagued by poverty and unemployment.
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A mother combing her daughter's hair while they wait at the Islam Qala crossing
(Photo: Wakil Kohsar / AFP)
Just two days ago, Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi toured the Islam Qala crossing, walking among deportees with armed guards. He promised that no one’s rights would be violated and pledged that any property left behind or seized in Iran would be returned. Despite the collapse Afghanistan faces, Taliban leaders continue urging refugees to come home. “No one will harm you,” said Prime Minister Muhammad Hasan Akhund earlier this month. “Return to your ancestral land and live in peace.”