By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
July 19, 2024
The homes of several Afghan migrants in the southern Iranian city of Khur have reportedly been set on fire in apparent retaliation for the killing of an Iranian man allegedly by an Afghan national.
Hosna, an Afghan who lives in Khur, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on July 19 that he moved his family from Khur to Shiraz in Fars Province out of fear for their safety.
“People in the region are very angry and set homes of several Afghans on fire,” he claimed.
Hosna and others who spoke to Radio Azadi attributed the anger to the July 3 killing of a 62-year-old restaurant owner in the town of Khenj by his 17-year-old apprentice. Iranian media have not identified the nationality of the suspected killer, but Hosna said the suspect was an Afghan citizen.
“The people of the region have sworn not to sell 1 kilogram of meat, or even a piece of bread, to Afghan nationals,” Hosna said. “So, many were forced to flee to Shiraz.”
Anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran has been on the rise in recent years, especially after a mass influx of migrants following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Occasionally, a hashtag that describes the expulsion of Afghan migrants as a “national demand” becomes a top trend on X, formerly Twitter, often boosted by anonymous accounts.
Last week, an unsubstantiated claim on social media blamed Afghan migrants for an alleged rise in leprosy cases in Iran.
The UN’s refugee agency says Iran hosts around 780,000 Afghan refugees, in addition to some 2.6 million undocumented Afghan migrants. But Iran claimed last year that the number of illegal Afghan immigrants was closer to 5 million.
The authorities have vowed to deport illegal refugees and hundreds of Afghan migrants are sent back to Afghanistan every day. They are also banned from living or working in half of Iran’s 31 provinces.
Afghans living in Iran have complained to Radio Azadi about rising harassment, even during deportation.
Tehran has for years maintained that it does not receive sufficient financial aid from international organizations to handle the number of refugees on its soil.