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Afghanistan
Iran expels 85,000 Afghans in three weeks
2007-05-14
TEHERAN - Iran has expelled 85,000 illegal Afghan refugees in the past three weeks in a repatriation plan whose speed triggered the sacking of two Afghan cabinet ministers, officials said. ‘Around 85,000 illegal Afghan citizens have been expelled from Iran’ since Teheran started the plan on April 21, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr said, according to the IRNA agency.

Afghans without proper working papers are estimated to form half of the two million Afghans, mostly Shia Hazara or Sunni Persian-speaking Tajiks, who fled conflict at home and still live in the Islamic republic. Iran wants all its Afghan refugees to return home in the coming years and Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi has said Teheran wants one million Afghans to be repatriated by next March.
Times must be getting tougher in Iran.
Zolghadr said the ‘foreign citizens plan’ was not targeting those Afghans who were legally registered and even those expelled had the right to return if they picked up the right papers at Iranian consulates in Afghanistan. ‘Iran is ready to furnish employment for those who have been expelled if they enter the country legally,’ he said.

But IranÂ’s swiftness in executing the plan has sparked anger in Kabul, prompting parliament to sack both Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta and Refugees Affairs Minister Akbar Akbar. Spanta was accused of not doing enough to persuade Iran to ease its policy of forced repatriation, while Akbar allegedly failed to help accommodate thousands of refugees forced out by Iran.
Somebody had to be the fall guys.
Afghanistan publicly asked Iran not to expel the refugees, saying that its own capacity to house them is very limited and this would ‘create problems.’ But Iran has frequently expressed exasperation that it must shoulder the burden of housing those displaced and wants all Afghans in Iran without an Iranian passport to return home by 2010.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  Many Western countries need to follow Iran's lead. What the hell every blind pig finds an ear of corn occasionally.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-05-14 09:34  

#7  It's a response to the fighting in Herat that killed so many Iranians, er... Talibs.

And it's a good opportunity to reinforce the Iranians, er... Talibs in Herat Province.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2007-05-14 09:19  

#6  Waiting for massive condemnation of Iran in 5... 4 ... 3 ... Wait, where did all the humanitarian groups go?
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-05-14 09:09  

#5  Maybe they should think about a wall. Just talking about one here makes em squeal.
Posted by: Hupainter de Medici6075   2007-05-14 08:18  

#4  Learning from the Mexicans.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-05-14 07:18  

#3  No "Sanctuary Cities" in the Islamic Republic? How odd.
Posted by: Bobby   2007-05-14 06:11  

#2  Around 85,000 illegal Afghan citizens have been expelled from IranÂ’ since Teheran started the plan on April 21, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr said, according to the IRNA agency.

If Iran had a proper INS, this would have never happened!
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-05-14 05:05  

#1  All that Muslim brotherhood stuff only goes so far. Now beat it!
Posted by: Baba Tutu   2007-05-14 04:47  

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