The Iranian regime’s official news agency acknowledged on Friday that Tehran used Afghan migrants to bolster the crowd at the funeral of the regime’s deceased president Ebrahim Raisi in Mashhad.
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that over 100,000 Afghan migrants residing in Mashhad participated in the funeral procession for Raisi. “According to the General Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs in Khorasan Razavi, more than 100,000 Afghans took part in the funeral and burial ceremonies of Raisi and his companions,” IRNA stated.
“Mashhad, after Tehran, hosts the largest number of foreign migrants, with nearly 400,000 registered foreigners, including those with special ID cards, passports, family passports, and census papers, all recorded in the Ministry of Interior’s SIAM system,” IRNA added. “Furthermore, about 300,000 unregistered foreigners reside in Mashhad, among them those with expired passports, who are considered illegal immigrants. In recent months, around 100,000 of these undocumented migrants were repatriated.”
The state-run Ensaf News also wrote, “The Mashhad Hotel Owners Association announced that the hotels of this city would host the participants in the president’s funeral for free from Wednesday, May 22 until noon on Thursday, May 23.”
The clerical regime’s policies towards Afghan refugees have faced criticism over the years, particularly regarding the difficulties they encounter in accessing education and employment, and restrictions on their movement and residence in several provinces.
Iran’s Regime Exploits #Afghan Migrants amidst Its Own Criseshttps://t.co/21g1Ao2B8T
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 7, 2023
For decades, the regime has been exploiting the plight of Afghan migrants through its immigration policies for political gains. While claiming to provide refuge and accommodation to garner support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the regime has been implementing systemic discrimination and mistreatment of Afghan nationals. Moreover, the regime recruits Afghan men and boys into proxy groups to suppress protests and advance its ambitions in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, taking advantage of their families’ poverty and hardship.
In July 2023, reports indicated that some public schools in Iran were illegally charging Afghan students for enrollment. Previously, the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs in Kermanshah province announced the prohibition of Afghan nationals from traveling, residing, and working in 16 provinces including East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Mazandaran, Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Hamedan.
Another report by the state-run Fardaye Eqtesad listed additional provinces with partial residency bans for Afghan nationals, including Isfahan, Bushehr, South Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Semnan, Fars, Qazvin, Kerman, Golestan, Markazi, and Yazd.
