Hundreds of Afghan migrants who fled to Iran say they are living in squalid camps located in the southeastern city of Zahedan, battling hunger and dehydration under relentless summer conditions as they wait for news about their return to Afghanistan.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans are said to have migrated across the border since Taliban militants seized power in August 2021 following the hasty departure of international peacekeeping forces. The influx has come at a time when Tehran is already struggling with economic woes sparked by the imposition of drastic international sanctions over its nuclear program.
Taliban officials have said they seek the safe return of the refugees, but little movement on the issue has been made to address the situation as more and more people cross the border.
One pregnant woman in the Zahedan camp told RFERL’s Radio Azadi that, after a week in the camp, she is without steady access to water, food, or health services.
She and her family fled soon after the Taliban took power, and they have been moving around trying to find some stability. But a lack of legal documents and the harassment of her husband by Iranian police have left her with little hope other than to eventually return home.
"We are stuck inside the camp in Zahedan, and now we can't leave. There is no food, no water, we are about 500 people, young, old, and children, we are all stuck here in this hot weather and there is no one to help us," she said.
"We say we are going to Afghanistan and they [Iranian authorities] say go, but how? How? There is no solution, there is no hotel to stay at and we don't have a bus to go to Afghanistan."
While the refugees say conditions were never good at camps like the one in Zahedan, they have deteriorated in recent months and their treatment by local officials has also worsened, with many complaining of constant harassment.
International human rights groups have documented years of violations against Afghan refugees and migrants in Iran, including physical abuse, detention in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, forced payment for transportation and accommodation in camps, slave labor, and the separation of families.
In 2015, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a decree allowing all Afghan children to go to school. But Afghans are still denied many other basic services, including access to medical care, jobs, and housing.