Afghans in Iran

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Afghans in Iran
Total population
c. 3 million (estimate), of which 780,000 are registered refugees, 586,000 were admitted with passports and visas, and the remaining 2 million or so are residing in Iran illegally.[1][2][3]
Regions with significant populations
Mashhad, Tehran, Zabol, and around the Afghanistan-Iran border
Languages
Dari, Pashto, and other languages of Afghanistan
Religion
Islam (Sunni and Shia)

Afghans in Iran are citizens of Afghanistan who are temporarily residing in Iran as refugees or asylum seekers. The first wave of Afghans was admitted to Iran after the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 780,000 registered Afghan refugees residing in Iran as of October 2020,[1][2] most of whom were born and raised in Iran during the last four decades.[4][5] There are also about 586,000 Afghan tourists, travelers, merchants, exchanged students, migrant workers, and others.[1][2]

In 2015, Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli stated to a news reporter that the total number of Afghans in Iran could be as high as 2.5 million, which included those who are registered by the UNHCR as refugees, visa holders, and those who entered the country illegally.[3] Afghans in Iran are under the care and protection of the UNHCR,[1] and are provided time-limited legal status without a path to obtain permanent residency[6] by the .

Many experience forceful deportation every year.[7] For example, in 2006 about 146,387 undocumented Afghans were deported.[8] In 2010, six Afghan prisoners were executed by hanging in the streets of Iran, which sparked angry demonstrations in Afghanistan.[9] In 2010, approximately 140,000 to 150,000 Afghans were reported to be in Iranian jails for felony.[9][10][11]

Stay[]

Legal immigrants are entitled to reside in Iran under two categories: temporary residence permit card holders, and passport-holders. Registered refugees have a so-called ""[12] that are renewed annually. The renewal cost for the year 2019 were as follows,[13] (USD equivalents are based on the April 2019 exchange rates $1~180K rial)

  • 80,000 rial (~US$0.45) for application fee (5,000 for administrative fees – 50,000 for issuance– 25,000 for fingerprints)
  • 172,000 rial (~US$0.95) tariffs for Amiesh Card (per person)
  • 2,070,000 rial (~US$11) for work permit
    • 2,070,000 rial (~US$11) for renewing work permit, or
    • 2,875,000 rial (~US$16) for first time issuance of work permit
  • Between 1,200,000 and 1,500,000 rial (~$6.7 – US$8.3) for the right to work (for every employed person).
  • Between 90,000 and 370,000 rial (~$0.5 – US$2) for accidental insurance (mandatory for work permit holder, and optional for households).
  • Municipality taxes per year: In 2019 in Tehran,
    • family of two foreigners: 1,500,000 rial (~US$8.3),
    • families 3 and 4 foreigners: 2,000,000 rial (~US$11.1),
    • families of more than 4 people: 2,500,000 rial (~US$13.9)

The immigrants only have the right to travel in a province whose card has been issued there, and for travel outside the province should receive an inter-provincial travel passes, for 150,000 rial each instance.

The above costs may add up to annual ~US$42 for a family of five. Monthly salaries of Afghans in Iran could be as low as less than $100 per month,[14][15] to as high as $130,[16] $280,[15] $300,[17] $350,[14] or even $400[17][18] per month. The new Iranian residency law, passed in July 2019, provides migrants particularly those from Afghanistan with a new chance to get Iran's residency. According to this law, each investor will get a five-year Iranian residency if they invest a minimum of €250,000. Also, under special conditions such as having Iranian spouses and children or providing valuable work or public services, foreign nationals could enjoy facilitated conditions for obtaining Iranian residency .[19]

Forbidden areas[]

Forbidden areas to Afghan refugees
The red areas are areas where Afghan citizens do not have the right to reside there.

The presence of Afghans nationals in 15 provinces is completely prohibited, and partially prohibited in the other 12 provinces. The Iranian government decided to restrict the presence of Afghan citizens in the provinces via provincial executive orders.

Province Forbidden areas
Azarbaijan, East The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( except Tabriz city ) is prohibited.
Azerbaijan, West The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( other than Urmia city ) is prohibited.
Ardebil The residence of Afghan nationals at the provincial level ( other than the city of Ardabil city ) is prohibited.
Esfahan The residence of Afghan nationals is prohibited in the counties of Natanz , Fryden , Fereydoun , Semirom , Chadgan , Khansar , Dehagan , Nain , Golpayegan , Khorobiabank , Ardestan and Abu Zaid district of Aran va Bidgol. But their residence is allowed in Esfahan city.
Alborz Residents of non-Iranian citizens are allowed in the entire province.
Ilam The residence of Afghan citizens in the province ( other than Ilam city ) is prohibited.
Bushehr The residence of Afghan nationals in the counties of Deylam and Genavh is prohibited.
Tehran Residents of non-Iranian citizens throughout the province is allowed (with the exception of Khojir and Khojir National Park area in Tehran's 13th District for Afghan nationals).
Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari The residence of Afghan citizens in the province ( other than the Shahr-Kord city ) is prohibited.
southern Khorasan The residence of Afghan citizens is allowed in the cities of Khosf and Birjand.
Khorasan Razavi The residence of Afghan citizens in the counties of Torbat Jam , Quchan , Taybad , Khaf , Sarakhs , Kalat Naderi and Dargaz boundaries is prohibited.
North Khorasan The residence of Afghan nationals at the provincial level ( other than the city of Bojnourd ) is prohibited.
Khuzestan The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( except Ahwaz and Gotvand ) is prohibited.
Zanjan The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( other than Zanjan city ) is prohibited.
Semnan The residence of Afghan citizens in Shahrood city and Damghan city is prohibited.
Sistan and Baluchestan The residence of Afghan nationals throughout the province ( other than the city of Zahedan ) is prohibited.
Fars The residence of Afghan citizens in the counties of Firoozabad , Farashband , Darab , Arsanjan , Fasa , Mehr , Rostam , Khonj and Nayriz is prohibited.
Qazvin The residence of Afghan nationals throughout the province ( other than Qazvin city ) is prohibited.
Qom Residents of non-Iranian citizens are allowed in the entire province.
Kurdistan The residence of Afghan nationals at the provincial level ( other than Sanandaj city ) is prohibited.
Kerman The residence of Afghan nationals is prohibited in counties of Anbarabad , Baft , Manujan , Ghaleghand , Bam , Fahraj , Rudbar , Faryab , Narmeshir , Kahnouj , Jiroft , Anar and Rigan .
Kermanshah The residence of Afghan nationals at the provincial level ( other than the Kermanshah city ) is prohibited.
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( except Yasuj city ) is prohibited.
Golestan The residence of Afghan nationals throughout the province ( other than Gorgan city and Gonbad city ) is prohibited.
Gilan The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( except Rasht city ) is prohibited.
Lorestan The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( other than the city of Khorramabad ) is prohibited.
Mazandaran The residence of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( other than the city of Sari ) is prohibited.
Markazi Province The residence of Afghan nationals is prohibited in counties of Ashtian , Tafresh , Farahan , Farahan , Khomein , Shazand , Mahallat , Zarandiyeh , Kandyan and Khondab .
Hormozgan The residence of Afghan nationals throughout the province ( other than Bandar Abbas city ) is prohibited.
Hamedan Accommodation of Afghan citizens at the provincial level ( except Hamedan city ) is prohibited.
Yazd The residence of Afghan citizens is strictly prohibited in the counties of Khatam and Bafq .

Employment[]

According to official statistics released in Iran, Afghan workers, with a population of 2 million, have about 10% of the labor market in Iran. The presence of Afghan workers in Iran has provoked many Iranian workers' protests. The Iranian government has also imposed a number of restrictions, including the ban on the use of foreign workers in governmental and non-governmental organizations, and called on all government agencies, non-state actors, companies and contractors to provide their needed labor to Iranian workforce, with numerous penalties, including imprisonment and a fine for the offending employers. However, many employers, especially private ones, prefer to use Afghan laborers due their low wage expectations, lack of insurance requirements, and their high productivity. Experts believe that the cause of the unemployment problem is not the presence of foreign nationals, as most foreigners are engaged in simple jobs, while the high unemployment rate is high among the graduate students and professionals.

Employment law[]

According to the Iranian Labor Law, foreign nationals who have work permit and residency permit can only work in authorized jobs as decided by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. Work permits granted to foreign nationals are usually valid for one year only and require renewals annually.

Employers who employ foreign nationals without valid work permits may face imprisonment of 90–180 days for each day of work and fines that is equivalent to five times the daily salary of one worker per day. This fine was about 1,540,000 rial per day (~$45/day) in 2017. The fine doubles for repeat offenders.

Work permits in Iran are granted to these categories:

  1. Foreign nationals who have been present in Iran for 10 years,
  2. Foreigners who have Iranian husband,
  3. Immigrants from foreign countries, refugees, provided they have a
    1. valid immigration or asylum card, and
    2. written consent of the ministries of state and foreign affairs

Occupations[]

According to the , Afghan refugees are only allowed to work in the following jobs, except in certain circumstances where there is no Iranian willing to take the job.

Brickwork and plastering Construction work Agricultural work Other occupations Other occupations (only in Tehran Province)
  1. Plaster and lime making related occupations
    • Plaster making & processing
    • Lime making and processing
    • Furnace and oven emptying
  2. Brick making related occupations
    • Furnace and oven filling
    • Pottery
    • Brick molding
    • Furnace maintainer, and furnace burner
    • Brickmaker
  1. Construction jobs
  2. Concrete block making and moaaic making
    • Concrete Maker
    • CMU maker
    • Piles maker
    • Stair maker
    • Mosaic machine operator
    • Mosaic maker
  3. Stonemasonry and masonry
    • Stonemasonry
    • Stonemasonry machine operator
    • Stone crusher operator
    • Sculpturer
    • Polisher of stone art
    • Stone crushing
    • Tile cutter
  4. Road construction worker and mining
    • Bridge-construction worker
    • Tunnel-maintainer and repairer
    • Miner
    • Mine digger
  1. Agricultural jobs
  2. Poultry and ranching jobs
  3. Slaughterhouse jobs
    • Livestock and poultry slaughter
    • Skin and de-featherer
    • Stomach and intestinal cleaner
    • Slaughterhouse waste collector
  4. Leather crafting
    • Lime applier
    • Leather maker
    • Skin washer (machine operator – simple worker)
    • Chemical worker
    • Animal hide processor
  1. Garbage disposal worker
  2. Chemical recycling worker
  3. Loading and unloading worker
  4. Furnace foundry worker
  5. Henna factory worker
  6. Compost production worker
  7. Glue factory worker
  8. Fertilizer factory worker
  9. Livestock and poultry feed producer
  10. Sewage cleaning and drainage worker
  11. Welder
  12. Shoe repairer
  13. Tailor
  14. Weaver
  15. Commercial worker
  1. Worker, demolishing buildings
  2. Mineral transportation worker
  3. Worker, gravel and sand laborer
  4. Worker for stables and horse keeping
  5. Animal husbandry and animal husbandry worker
  6. Cleaner, poultry farming
  7. Leather chemical applier
  8. Gravedigger
  9. Sewage pipe worker
  10. Waste recycling Worker
  11. Coal miner
  12. Scaffolding transportation worker
  13. Waste mill worker
  14. Resin applier
  15. Worker for transporting metal and plastic scrap
  16. Garbage and waste separator
  17. Crystal creation worker
  18. Press-tool worker (metal – plastic)
  19. Facility worker
  20. Gardener
  21. Mechanic worker
  22. Battery production worker
  23. Rebar worker

Political history and migration[]

A miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Persian Safavid garrison of Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughals, which was re-taken by the Persians in 1650 during the Mughal-Safavid war.

As neighboring countries with cultural ties,[20] there has been a long history of population movements between Iran and Afghanistan.[21] Southern Afghanistan was contested between the Persian Safavid dynasty and the Moghuls of India until 1709 when Mir Wais Hotak, founder of the Hotaki dynasty, declared it independent.[22] During the reign of Nader Shah, the brother of Ahmad Shah Durrani was made Governor of Mazandaran Province. A few years after Nader Shah's death, Durrani and his Afghan army made Nader's grandson Shahrokh Afshar, ruler of the small remaining Afshar territory comprising the Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, their vassal for some years.[23] The region remained a vassal territory of the Afghan Empire until Durrani's death. During the early 19th century, the Persian army invaded Herat several times but with British assistance the Afghans quickly expelled them.[24][25] Communities made up of 2,000 and 5,000 households of ethnic Hazaras were formed in Torbat-e Jam and Bakharz in Iran. The 1857 Treaty of Paris ended hostilities of the Anglo-Persian War. The modern day Afghan–Iranian border gradually began to take shape in the second half of the 19th century.

Afghan migrant workers, pilgrims and merchants, who settled in Iran over the years, had by the early 20th century, become large enough to be officially classified as their own ethnic group, referred to variously as Khavari or Barbari.[26] Young Hazara men have embraced migrant work in Iran and other Persian Gulf states to save money for marriage and become independent; such work has even come to be seen as a "rite of passage".[27] Such migration intensified in the early 1970s due to famine, and by 1978, there were an estimated several hundred thousand Afghan migrant workers in Iran.[28]

The Soviet–Afghan War, which erupted in 1979, was the beginning of a series of major waves of refugee flight from Afghanistan.[29] Those who came to Iran often augmented the ranks of migrant workers already there. The new Islamic Republic took place around the same time as the influx of masses of Afghan migrants to other countries, fleeing the plagues of problems in their own country. Iran started recognising those Afghans listed as migrants workers or refugees as legals. They issued them "blue cards" to denote their status, entitling them to free primary and secondary education, as well as subsidised healthcare and food. However, the government maintained some restrictions on their employment, namely prohibiting them from owning their own businesses or working as street vendors.[21]

Most of the early academic attention on these new immigrants was focused on ethnically Pashtun Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Studies on Afghans in Iran came later due to the political situation during the Iran–Iraq War.[26] By 1992, a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there were around 2.8 million Afghans in Iran. Just 10% were housed in refugee camps; most settled in or near urban areas.[28] For their efforts in housing and educating these refugees and illegals, the Iranian government received little financial aid from the international community.[30] With the fall of the Najibullah government of Afghanistan in 1992, Iran began efforts to encourage refugees to repatriate. During these years, there were many reports of cases of Afghans being harassed by Iranian law enforcement officers. Legal residents had their identity cards confiscated and exchanged with temporary residency permits of one-month validity, at the expiry of which they were expected to have left Iran and have repatriated.[31]

21st century[]

Between 2002 and 2016, more than 5 million Afghan refugees have been repatriated through the UNHCR from both Pakistan and Iran.[32] This was done on a yearly basis. For example, in 2011 more than 60,000 Afghan refugees living in Iran voluntarily returned to Afghanistan.[33]

In 2012, around 173,000 Afghans were forcefully deported by Iran. Over 103,086 more were deported in 2013. Many of the deportees complained of torture and other abuses by the Iranian police.[6][7] According to the UNHCR, as of October 2020 there are 780,000 registered citizens of Afghanistan residing in Iran.[1][2] Most of these were born and raised in Iran during the last four decades.[4][5] In 2015, Iranian officials claimed that 2.5 million Afghans reside in their country, which includes the registered and illegals as well as those who were admitted to the country with Afghan passports and Iranian visas.[3][1]

Over the last few months, many people have been fleeing Afghanistan to neighbouring countries, including Iran; this is because the Taliban forces have taken most areas in Afghanistan.[34]

Social life and other issues[]

Afghan citizens at Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Esfahan, Iran. (2007)

Afghan refugees have come to Iran since the 1980s, including children and adolescents.[30] Many were born in Iran over the last 30 years but were unable to gain citizenship due to Iranian immigration laws. The refugees include Hazaras, Tajiks, Qizilbash, Pashtuns, and other ethnic groups of Afghanistan.[35] One UNHCR paper claims that nearly half the documented refugees are Hazara, a primarily Shi'a group.[36]

In Afghanistan, some people feel that using birth control violates the tenets of their religion; however, in Iran, attitudes are far different, due to the country's extensive promotion of family planning. Afghans in Iran have moved closer to mainstream Iranian values in this regard; the Iranian influence has even filtered back into Afghanistan.[37] One study in Khorasan has found that while overall fertility rates for Afghan migrant women are somewhat higher than those for Iranian women there—3.9 vs. 3.6—the similarity hides significant age-related differences in fertility, with older Afghan migrant women having a far higher number of children than older Iranian urban women, while younger Afghan migrant women's number of children appears to be approaching the far-lower Iranian urban norm.[38] Contraceptive usage among the same study group was 55%, higher than for local Iranian women.[39]

More broadly, the same conservative men who resisted aggressive attempts by communist governments in Afghanistan to expand women's education and their role in the economy are now faced with the very changes from which they had hoped to shield their families. This shift in family and gender roles was induced by the experience of living as refugees in largely Muslim society.[40]

Some Afghan men married Iranian women during their residence in Iran; however, under Iranian nationality law, the children of such marriages are not recognized as Iranian citizens, and it is also more difficult for the men to gain Iranian citizenship than for Afghan women married to Iranian men.[41] As of 2019 this law has changed and Iranian women in mixed marriages can transfer their Iranian nationality to their children, regardless of the nationality of the child's father.[42]

Although Iranian authorities have made efforts to educate Afghan children, Human Rights Watch reports that many undocumented Afghan children face bureaucratic obstacles that prevent their children from attending school, in violation of international law. Iranian law limits Afghans who have permission as refugees to work to a limited number of dangerous and poorly paid manual labor jobs, regardless of their education and skills.[6]

The Iranian government has also failed to take necessary steps to protect its Afghan population from physical violence linked to rising anti-foreigner sentiment in Iran, or to hold those responsible accountable.[6]

According to Article 5 of the Civil Code of Iran, foreign nationals may enjoy the rights in respect of the possession of movable property, except in cases where the government has not prohibited them, but according to Article 1 of the Rules of Procedure, ownership of this category of property is only available to persons who have the right to permanent residence in Iran. For foreigners, there are limits to ownership. For example, they do not have the right to own land and the ownership of residential property, including the official permission of the Iranian government. According to this law, because many Afghan citizens in Iran have temporary residence (card + passport), they do not have the right to own immovable property.

Ethnicity and religion[]

According to a statement by the deputy director of the General Directorate for Foreign Affairs in 2017, 70% of foreign nationals living in Iran are Shia Muslims and the rest are Sunni Muslims.[43] Hazara, Tajik, Pashtun, and Uzbek are the main ethnic groups.

Gender composition[]

Based on the 2016 Iranian census,[44] 845,267 (53%) of the Afghan national population in Iran were men and 738,712 (47%) women.

Gender Combination of Afghan Refugees in Iranian Provinces (2016)[44]
Province Population by gender Province Population by gender Province Population by gender
Man Female Man Female Man Female
East Azarbaijan 76 63 North Khorasan 55 38 Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 896 607
Western Azerbaijan 52 55 Khuzestan 3671 2619 Golestan 9602 8671
Ardebil 15 20 Zanjan 23 17 Gilan 218 91
Isfahan 94773 88351 Semnan 18535 16874 Lorestan 63 36
Alborz 45548 38773 Sistan and Baluchestan 14163 12683 Mazandaran 1818 805
Ilam 12 17 Fars 61198 48049 Markazi 15290 13967
Bushehr 19386 10305 Qazvin 9592 8809 Hormozgan 14301 9894
Tehran 274780 240787 Qom 48759 47608 Hamedan 135 82
Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari 60 31 Kurdistan 13 5 Yazd 28286 23457
southern Khorasan 2619 2426 Kerman 69906 55505
Khorasan Razavi 111396 108046 Kermanshah 26 21

Age Distribution[]

Based on the 2016 census, about 46% were under 20 years old and about 67% were under the 30 years old. Given the 40-year presence history, many of them were born in Iran. The Afghan refugee population were younger than the indigenous population of Iran (31% of Iranians were under the age 20, and 49% of Iranians were under the age of 30). One of the main reason is the high birth rates and the low age of marriage in this population.[44]

Population by age category[44]
Age Group Population Age Group Population
Man Female Total Man Female Total
0–4 90124 85204 175328 40–44 44077 33566 77643
5–9 98288 93099 191387 45–49 34883 27983 62866
10–14 94779 88976 183755 50–54 30474 22329 52803
15–19 89901 83179 173080 55–59 20672 14036 34708
20–24 93028 86973 180001 60–64 16387 9746 26133
25–29 85796 76279 162075 65–69 9436 5626 15062
30–34 66179 55252 121431 70–74 6589 3826 10415
35–39 56910 48545 105455 75+ 7744 4093 11837

Distribution[]

Residence of Afghan refugees is prohibited in 15 provinces of Iran, except in the other three provinces of Qom, Alborz, Tehran (except Khojir, district 13), in the rest of the provinces, they only have the right to reside in some cities. Fatemeh Ashrafi, the reason for the restrictions on the movement of Afghan refugees in Iran, allowed the Iranian government, in accordance with the 1951 Convention, to protect refugees from limiting the displacement of foreign immigrants in their country based on national interests and security issues. [11]

Distribution of Afghans in Provinces of Iran (2016)
Province Population Province Population Province Population
Tehran 515,567 Sistan and Baluchestan 26,846 Western Azerbaijan 107
Khorasan Razavi 219,442 Hormozgan 24,195 Lorestan 99
Isfahan 183,124 Qazvin 18,401 North Khorasan 93
Kerman 125,411 Golestan 18,273 Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari 91
Fars 109,247 Khuzestan 6,290 Kermanshah 47
Qom 96,367 southern Khorasan 5,045 Zanjan 40
Alborz 84,321 Mazandaran 2,623 Ardebil 35
Yazd 51,743 Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad 1,503 Ilam 29
Semnan 35,409 Gilan 309 Kurdistan 18
Bushehr 29,691 Hamedan 217
Markazi 29,257 East Azarbaijan 139

Education[]

One of the problems that Afghan immigrants in Iran had was the schooling of children. Law children were enrolled in school fees, and children who did not have legal residency, either retrained or retrained in the PAs. In recent years, the conditions for children's education have been reciprocated by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's statement that in April 2012, " No Afghan children, even illegal immigrants in Iran, should be excluded from education and all of them must be enrolled in Iranian schools " Many Afghan children were enrolled in Iranian schools and were eligible to study. In 2017, around 360,000 Afghan students will study in 25,409 Iranian schools, and up to 10 percent can continue to study in technical and vocational schools. [30] The cost of schooling for each student in one academic year is about 1 million and 800 thousand, and more than 2 million in vocational schools, which contributes about 10 percent of all education costs in Iran to the UNHCR, and the remainder, according to government regulations, in the year 93 Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to Article 138 of the Constitution, children who do not have an identity document who age in terms of enrollment and study in the official educational system of the country are identified and a special card is issued under the title "Educational Support Card". University education

University education is not free for Afghan citizens in Iran, and many students have difficulty studying at university with numerous problems, such as higher education costs, the problem of extending a residence permit, having no work record after graduation in Iran to return to Afghanistan, student insurance, non-certification. And the truing performance of issuance, the disregard of a specific budget for immigrant organs for cultural activities, etc. are among the fundamental problems that students face. According to statistics published in 2016, more than 11,000 Afghan students study at Iranian universities. The Afghan immigrants in Iran need to change their student qualifications to study at the university. In the past, after graduation, the student's passport was not credible and the graduate student had to return to his country, but with the reforms that have taken place in recent years, students who have completed their residence permit in Iran could change their student passport to normal. Although the IOM Immigration Program has taken programs to return students to use their expertise in Afghanistan, they lack recruitment in Afghanistan due to lack of infrastructure for their expertise, corruption and ethnicity, and insecurity. Many Iranian graduates are reluctant to return to Afghanistan. Forbidden disciplines

Studying Afghan students in university courses that lead to government-sponsored employment is prohibited, and they can only study in fields other than the following, and at universities that are not forbidden areas for Afghans.

  1. Atomic physics
  2. Nuclear physics
  3. Molecular physics (plasma)
  4. Particle physics
  5. Plasma engineering
  6. Safety engineering (Technical Inspection and Aircraft Protection)
  7. Maintenance engineering (Helicopter and Aircraft)
  8. Aerospace engineering
  9. Aeronautical Engineering (Piloting, Aircraft Navigation, Aircraft Maintenance, Helicopter Piloting and Flight Care)
  10. Military sciences
  11. Airline Electronics
  12. Aircraft maintenance
  13. Airplane Contacts
  14. Air traffic control
  15. IT (Secure Telecommunication Orienteering)
  16. Satellite technology engineering
  17. Computer engineering (Secure Computing Orienteering)

Health care[]

Insurance[]

According to an agreement signed between the Refugee Agency, the Office of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Immigrants and Health Insurance, a health insurance program for refugees was adopted, in which many legal immigrants in Iran are covered by insurance. In statistics released in 1396, more than 124,000 Afghan citizens in Iran were enrolled in a health insurance plan, of which 112,000 were highly vulnerable, and more than 1,000 other people had certain illnesses. All the costs of these refugees are paid by the UNHCR. Ibn Insurance includes hospital services, para-clinical services and outpatient services, and only in government hospitals covered by the Ministry of Health. The one-year health insurance cost for vulnerable people and special patients is about 4500, and other migrants is 460000 tomans.

Organ transplant[]

On 13 August, the High Council for Transplantation of the Council for the Suppression of Transplantation of Trafficking in Persons passed the Prohibition of the Transplant of Foreign Nationals Members, this law resulted in protests in cyberspace, as amended by the Health Minister of Iran Hasan Hashemi in March 2015, the release of the link with Afghan citizens who are Afghan citizens who are marrying or legally living in Iran are given. [43] The death of an Afghan girl named Latifa Rahmani, 12 years old in 1395, who needed liver transplantation, was very much reflected in the media that the health minister of Iran had the reason to die her progress in her illness and before her father's liver transplant And reiterated the law prohibiting the transplant of members of foreign nationals.

Crime[]

According to statistics released in 1996, more than 5,000 prisoners from foreign nationals are detained in Iran's prisons. The report, released in 2013, accounts for 88 percent of foreign offenders as Afghan nationals. Most of the crimes were committed by illegal immigrants and drug trafficking, and subsequently in the area of conflict and conflict. The executions of some Afghan refugees who were mostly arrested for drug trafficking caused tensions between the two countries, and citizens of Afghanistan have repeatedly demonstrated protests against these executions in the cities of Kabul and Herat .

Marriage with indigenous people[]

According to statistics released in the year 1995, nearly 24,000 marriages of Iranian nationals have been recorded in Iran, and it is anticipated that nearly the same amount of legal marriage has been recorded. According to Article 1060 of the Civil Code of Iran, the marriage of Iranian women to foreign men with the permission of the government and any foreigner who, without the permission referred to above, will marry an Iranian woman, will be sentenced to one year's imprisonment of up to three years. And the government's important marriages are prohibited. Under Iranian law, Afghan women who marry men in Iran are considered citizens of Iran under Article 976 of the Civil Code and can take Iranian citizenship and their children enjoy the conditions of an Iranian citizen, but if Afghan men marry Iranian women to men Citizenship of Iran does not belong and according to Article 979 of the Civil Code they can only apply for citizenship. Children from foreign marriages with Iranian women up to 18 years of age are considered to be their fathers, and if their fathers lack a degree of residence, they will encounter limitations for people without a degree in Iran. These children can apply for citizenship at the age of 18 years. Although plans have been pursued in the Iranian parliament to grant Iranian citizenship to sons of Iranian mothers and fathers, these plans have always been stopped.

A new policy allowing Iranian women to pass down their citizenship to their children at birth started to effect from 2020. As of mid-November, about 75,000 people had applied for citizenship under the new law. The new policy particularly affects the children of Iranian women who have married Afghan men. While Iran's nationality laws predate the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohsen Kazempour, a co-founder of the Datikan Legal Institute in Tehran, said the current bias against foreigners is in part rooted in a nationalist hysteria that followed the revolution and the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq. "Iran was at war with Iraq, and Iraq was supported by many foreign nations," he said. "So the Iranian government was very concerned about the penetration of secret agents in the government or army."[45]

Property[]

According to Article 5 of the Civil Code of Iran, foreign nationals may enjoy the rights in respect of the possession of movable property, except in cases where the government has not prohibited them, but according to Article 1 of the Rules of Procedure, how to own immovable property, ownership of this category of property is only available to persons who have the right to permanent residence in Iran Have. For foreigners, there are limits to ownership. For example, this group does not have the right to own land (land-mine) and the ownership of residential property under certain conditions, including the official permission of the Iranian government. According to this law, because many Afghan citizens in Iran have temporary residence (card + passport), they do not have the right to own immovable property, and only in certain circumstances and when the government allows them.

Execution of Afghans prisoners[]

Approximately 3,000 Afghan prisoners face the death penalty in Iran.[10][11] A number of them have been executed by hanging in the last decade.[46][47][48][49][50] Iran imposes the death penalty even for minor drug-related offenses, such as possession of only 30 grams of amphetamines.[51]

Voluntary repatriation and forceful deportation[]

Millions of Afghan refugees have returned to Afghanistan since 2002.

Statistics on the return of Afghan refugees[52][53]
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Voluntary repatriation 117,364 124,615 74,967 225,815 238,384 155,721 74,773 --- --- --- 279,012 217,483 286,226 316,415 248,764
Forced deportation 42,360 53,897 79,410 95,845 146,387 363,369 406,524 322,008 286,662 211,023 250,731 220,846 218,565 227,601 194,764
Total 159,724 178,512 154,377 321,660 384,771 519,090 481,297 --- --- --- 529,743 438,329 504,791 544,016 443,763

In popular culture[]

Since the 1980s, a number of Iranian movies set in Iran have featured Afghan immigrant characters. One early example is Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 1988 movie The Cyclist, in which the character of the title, a former cycling champion of Afghanistan, gives a demonstration in his town's square whereby he rides his bicycle without stopping for seven days and seven nights, with the aim of raising money for life-saving surgery for his wife. In the end, even after seven days, he continues to pedal endlessly, too fatigued to hear his son's pleas to get off his bicycle.[54] One scholar analyses the film as an allegory which parallels the exploitation that Afghan refugees suffer from in Iran and from which they are unable to escape.[29]

Other notable films with Afghan characters include Jafar Panahi's 1996 The White Balloon, Abbas Kiarostami's 1997 A Taste of Cherry, Majid Majidi's 2000 Baran, and Bahram Bayzai's 2001 Sagkoshi.[29]

Notable people[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Refugees in Iran". UNHCR. October 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2021. According to the latest figures communicated by the Government in October 2020, on which consultations are ongoing, 800,000 refugees live in Iran, of which 780,000 are Afghans and 20,000 are Iraqis. Additionally, it is estimated that some 2 million undocumented Afghans and nearly 600,000 Afghan-passport holders live in Iran – it is expected that a significant number of those individuals continue to have international protection needs.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Refugees and internally displaced persons". The World Factbook. Retrieved 4 August 2021. refugees (country of origin): 2.1-2.25 million undocumented Afghans, 586,000 Afghan passport holders, 780,000 Afghan refugee card holders, 20,000 Iraqi refugee card holders (2020)
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "جدیدترین آمار تعداد مهاجران افغانی در ایران". afkarnews.ir (in Persian). Iran. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Why are Afghan refugees leaving Iran? (al-Jazeera 17 May 2016).
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Abbas Hajimohammadi; Shaminder Dulai, eds. (6 November 2014). "Photos: The Life of Afghan Refugees in Tehran". Newsweek. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Iran: Afghan Refugees and Migrants Face Abuse". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Iran daily deports thousands of Afghans to Herat Archived 10 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Tang, Alisa (15 June 2007), "Iran Forcibly Deports 100,000 Afghans", Washington Post, retrieved 3 September 2010
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Afghans demonstrate against Iranian 'ill-treatment' and executions of Afghan refugees", BBC News, 6 May 2010, retrieved 3 September 2010
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Chris Sands. "Executions of Afghans reviving resentment of Iran". thenational.ae.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "3,000 Afghans face execution in Iran". Pajhwok Afghan News. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  12. ^ "UNWELCOME GUESTS: Iran's Violation of Afghan Refugee and Migrant Rights" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2013.
  13. ^ "اعلام هزینه‌ صدور کارت‌های آمایش و کار برای اتباع افغانستان- اخبار بین الملل – اخبار تسنیم �� Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم – Tasnim (in Persian). Iran. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Müller, Quentin. "Undocumented Afghans in Iran: Collateral damage of US sanctions". alaraby. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b "Afghanistan feels impact of Iran's economic isolation". Reuters. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  16. ^ Hulpachova, Marketa (5 September 2014). "The price of an education for Afghan refugees in Iran". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "Afghan Migrant Workers in Iran: Continuing Struggle and Exploitation | Zamaneh Media". en.radiozamaneh.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". www.imf.org. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  19. ^ Why and How to Get Iran’s Residency"IFP News" 4 July 2019
  20. ^ Iran Foreign Policy & Government Guide (World Business Law Handbook Library), Usa Ibp, Intl Business Pubn., 2006, p. 149
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Glazebrook & Abbasi-Shavazi 2007, p. 189
  22. ^ "AFGHANISTAN x. Political History". iranicaonline.org.
  23. ^ Friedrich Engels (1857). "Afghanistan". Andy Blunden. The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  24. ^ Clements, Frank (2003). Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 8. ISBN 1-85109-402-4. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Kingdoms of Persia – Persia". historyfiles.co.uk.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, p. 139
  27. ^ Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, p. 140
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, p. 141
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b c Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, p. 138
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Hoodfar 2008, p. 165
  31. ^ Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, pp. 141–142
  32. ^ "Over 1 Million Afghan Refugees Return Home". Voice of America. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  33. ^ "Over 60,000 refugees return home this year". Pajhwok Afghan News. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  34. ^ https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/fr/node/189706
  35. ^ Abbasi-Shavazi et al. 2008, p. 14
  36. ^ Glazebrook & Abbasi-Shavazi 2007, p. 187
  37. ^ Piran 2004, p. 283
  38. ^ Moghadas, Vaezzade & Aghajanian 2007, Fertility Level
  39. ^ Moghadas, Vaezzade & Aghajanian 2007, Contraceptive Use
  40. ^ Hoodfar 2004, p. 141
  41. ^ Zahedi 2007, p. 225
  42. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-women-refugees-rights-citizenship/2020/12/24/0b5f74b0-445d-11eb-ac2a-3ac0f2b8ceeb_story.html
  43. ^ سال, سایت خبری تحلیلی شعار. "چند نفر از زندانیان کشور اتباع بیگانه هستند؟". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  44. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "1395 Iranian Census". Census Bureau of Iran. 2016 – via https://www.amar.org.ir/Portals/0/census/1395/results/tables/jamiat/tafsili/kol/2-jamiat-k.xls.
  45. ^ "Breaking with some Mideast neighbors, Iran now lets mothers give their citizenship to their children". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  46. ^ "Iran executes seven Afghan immigrants". rawa.org.
  47. ^ "Afghans Protest Against Iran Over Executions". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.
  48. ^ Iran: Execution of juvenile scheduled for Monday Archived 3 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  49. ^ "BBC News – Afghans protest against 'refugee executions' in Iran". bbc.co.uk. 13 May 2010.
  50. ^ "Afghanistanvotes.com". Archived from the original on 9 September 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  51. ^ "Human rights in Iran are still atrocious: While Iran reopens to the West, repression still prevails at home". The Economist. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  52. ^ Isabel Mehlmann (2011). "Migration in Afghanistan A Country Profile 2011". maastrichtuniversity. Archived from the original on 5 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  53. ^ "refugee and returnee chapter response strategy 12 mar 2017" (PDF). humanitarianresponse. p. 9.
  54. ^ Adelkhah & Olszewska 2007, p. 137
  55. ^ Moin 1999, p. 233

Sources[]

  • Moin, Baqer (1999), Khomeini: life of the Ayatollah, I. B. Tauris, ISBN 978-1-85043-128-2
  • Hoodfar, Homa (2004), "Families on the Move: the Changing Role of Afghan Refugee Women in Iran", Hawwa, 2 (2): 141–171, doi:10.1163/1569208041514707
  • Piran, Parviz (2004), "Effects of Social Interaction between Afghan Refugees and Iranians on Reproductive Health Attitudes", Disasters, 28 (3): 283–293, doi:10.1111/j.0361-3666.2004.00259.x, PMID 15344942
  • Adelkhah, Fariba; Olszewska, Zuzanna (2007), "The Iranian Afghans", Iranian Studies, 40 (2): 137–165, doi:10.1080/00210860701269519, S2CID 159791018
  • Glazebrook, Diana; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal (2007), "Being Neighbors to Imam Reza: Pilgrimage Practices and Return Intentions of Hazara Afghans Living in Mashhad, Iran", Iranian Studies, 40 (2): 187–201, doi:10.1080/00210860701269535, S2CID 162335732
  • Moghadas, Ali Asghar; Vaezzade, Sajede; Aghajanian, Akbar (2007), "Fertility and Family Planning Among Immigrant Afghan Women in an Iranian City: A Research Note", Sociation Today, 5 (1), ISSN 1542-6300
  • Zahedi, Ashraf (2007), "Transnational Marriages, Gendered Citizenship, and the Dilemma of Iranian Women Married to Afghan Men", Iranian Studies, 40 (2): 225–239, doi:10.1080/00210860701269568, S2CID 154057579
  • Hoodfar, Homa (2008), "The Long Road Home: Adolescent Afghan Refugees in Iran Contemplate 'Return'", in Hart, Jason (ed.), Years of Conflict: Adolescence, Political Violence and Displacement, Berghahn Books, ISBN 978-1-84545-528-6
  • Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad Jalal; Glazebrook, Diana; Jamshidiha, Gholamreza; Mahmoudian, Hossein; Sadeghi, Rasoul (April 2008), Second-generation Afghans in Iran: Integration, Identity and Return (PDF), Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, UNHCR, retrieved 17 May 2010
  • Islamic Republic of Iran, Country operations profiles, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2010, retrieved 15 March 2010

Further reading[]

  • Olszewska, Zuzanna (2007), "'A Desolate Voice': Poetry and Identity among Young Afghan Refugees in Iran", Iranian Studies, 40 (2): 203–224, doi:10.1080/00210860701269550, S2CID 155003313
  • Tober, Diane (2007), "'My Body Is Broken Like My Country': Identity, Nation, and Repatriation among Afghan Refugees in Iran", Iranian Studies, 40 (2): 263–285, doi:10.1080/00210860701269584, S2CID 161576073
  • Kutschera, Chris, "Forgotten Refugees: Afghans in Iran", The Middle East, 45 (92): 43–47

External links[]

Retrieved from ""