Warning about the separation of thousands of children from their families.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced that on average, about 20,000 Afghan refugees are deported from Iran and enter Afghanistan through the borders of Herat province every day.
Tajuddin Oywale, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, wrote on the social network X on Sunday (July 28) that more than 5,000 children have been separated from their families as a result of the forced deportation process. According to him, children make up about a quarter of the total number of deportees.
UNICEF has also announced the provision of humanitarian assistance in the areas of health, food and access to clean water for returned refugees in border areas.
A UNICEF representative has expressed concern over the increasing trend of deportations of migrants, calling on the international community to take urgent action to protect children, especially those most vulnerable on the road.
This comes as Iranian authorities have stepped up deportations of Afghan migrants in recent days. According to reports, more than 100,000 Afghan migrants have been returned to Afghanistan from Iran in the past week alone.
As deportations from Iran and Pakistan increase, aid and human rights groups have warned of the dire situation for migrants, especially children.
