Over the past three decades, millions of Afghans have fled from their country because of various issues such as war, economic crisis, famine, etc. At this time, three million Afghans are reportedly living in Iran. They mainly reside in the cities of Tehran, Mashhad and Qom.
Reports suggest that during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at least 3,700 Afghans were hanged due to criminal offences. Iran is among the few countries in the world that the death penalty is still a major problem for the community.
Soraya Ghasemi, an Iranian socialist, believes that political relations between the Iranian and Afghan governments are degraded because of the mistreatment of Afghan nationals in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Under Iran’s ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Afghans faced many problems inside Iran. Many Afghans got deported to their countries for committing ignorable crimes. On the other side, a large number of Afghans were executed without informing Afghanistan’s government,” Soraya Ghasemi said in an interview with the Master Herald.
According to Ghasemi, Iran needs to take the necessary steps in order to compensate Afghan families. “Unfortunately, this kind of unfair action from the Iranian government has damaged relations between the two Muslim countries,”
It is worth mentioning that relations between Iran and Afghanistan improved following the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979. Although the two countries are still maintaining close relations, the Iranian government has reportedly lost its former influence in Afghanistan.
“The Iranian government should consider providing free education and health care to Afghan refugees. At the being time, only a limited number of Afghans are insured by international organizations such as UNICEF, WFP and the United Nations. Despite receiving money from different global organizations, the Iranian government has yet to provide any services to Afghan refugees.” Soraya Ghasemi concluded.