Iran: “Hatred Towards Afghans Has Grown”

Welcome to IWPR’s Frontline Update, your go-to source to hear from journalists and local voices at the front lines of conflict.

 THE BIG PICTURE  

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have sought refuge in neighbouring Iran over recent decades, fleeing war, poverty and Taliban rule.

But Tehran appears to be using the recent Israel-Iran war as a pretext for stepping up their mass deportation. During the 12-day conflict, at least five Afghan nationals were arrested on charges of spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

With a hostile media describing Afghans as saboteurs and enemy collaborators, many fear for their lives.

 VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE 

“The most common phrase we heard from armed Iranians during the days of war was, ‘filthy Afghans,’” said 19-year-old Khudadad, who described intense antagonism from the Iranian security forces.

“They looked at us as if we were Mossad spies,” he continued. “At checkpoints, the soldiers would carefully search our phones. If they found a video of the war, or the footage of bombings, or even an audio narration of the events, they would take us away to an unknown location.”

Propaganda during the war served to turn even ordinary people against Afghan migrants, recounted Mohammad Sarwar, a 37-year-old living with his family in Tehran.

“The hatred toward Afghans had grown so much that employers wouldn’t even pay our wages,” he said. “Many labourers were arrested on accusations of collaborating with Mossad.”

Even long-term residents like Ezatullah, living in the central city of Rafsanjan for over 20 years, had been forced to flee. When the war began, he and his family hid for three days - “eventually, warnings from Iranian authorities forced us to leave the country,” he told IWPR.

 WHY IT MATTERS 

Tehran has ordered all undocumented Afghans to leave by July 6; last month, more than 256,000 Afghans left Iran, according to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Such mass return risks further destabilising Afghanistan, an internationally isolated country already undergoing a humanitarian crisis and with its economy in tatters.

 THE BOTTOM LINE 

IWPR launched programming in Afghanistan in 2002, training thousands of journalists, establishing media centres and journalism faculties across the country, and launching Pajwok, the nation’s first independent news agency.

Although the Taliban takeover has devastated a once-thriving media scene, we continue to support Afghan journalists telling essential stories and reporting the truth.

War often has a grave impact on those most marginalised in society; even after the bombs stop falling, vulnerable communities continue to feel the consequences.

"Although I am in Afghanistan, the sounds of explosions still echo in my head,” said Javad, an Afghan masters student hounded out of Tehran. “My mind is not at peace."