Iran’s Speaker Criticized for Election-Time Promises on Afghan Migrant Issue

The reformist newspaper Ham-Mihan has called out the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament for his presidential election campaign rhetoric concerning Afghan migrants. 

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf recently promised that "provisions have been made for the complete expulsion" of illegal immigrants while numbers have continued to grow with around eight million in the country.

Ham-Mihan voiced a question: "If this issue is so important that it requires promises to win votes, then why haven’t you presented any ideas, opinions, or serious critiques about it in the past four years, and why haven’t you pursued and implemented the issue in any of the institutions where you were present? Is this way of making promises a sign of sincerity?"

The timing of Ghalibaf's statements coincides with a surge in the detention and expulsion of foreign nationals, particularly Afghan citizens, from Iran. This has sparked a complex debate among Iranian citizens and officials, balancing the perceived threats and opportunities presented by the presence of Afghan migrants.

Despite the approximate figure of 780,000 Afghans in Iran with official refugee status, the majority remain undocumented, a significant number seeking refuge from the instability in Afghanistan, particularly following the resurgence of the Taliban.