A shocking video of an Afghan migrant youth being brutally beaten by two Iranian youths has gone viral on social media. In the video, the migrant, ascending an escalator, is stopped and severely assaulted by the two individuals.
Kabul 24: A third person filmed this act of violation. This video is just one example of the thousands of violent incidents against Afghan migrants in Iran that occur daily on streets and alleys, yet no response from Iranian authorities has been observed regarding these inhumane behaviors.In another case, a migrant woman recently shared a video recounting her and her family’s nighttime expulsion by Iranian police, who told them: “Get out of our country, you trash.”The woman stated: “Iranian police stormed our bedroom at 3 a.m. and forced us out.”Anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran has deep roots, but in recent months, it has crossed all boundaries of human decency. Having recently emerged from international pressures and attacks by U.S. B-52s and Israeli F-35s, Iran has intensified its efforts to deport, insult, and humiliate Afghan migrants.Child laborers, often referred to as “unaccompanied,” are deported in groups without any guardianship.
These children take on grueling jobs like collecting garbage and scraps in extreme heat and cold.Being “Afghan” in Iran has become a grave offense in itself. Migrants, especially workers and the underprivileged, are confined to so-called “dirty” jobs, while “respectable” jobs are reserved for Iranian citizens.
Migrant children are not spared from this discrimination.Garbage collection, a job many Afghan children are forced to do, exemplifies the inhumane conditions imposed on them.
In more horrific cases, reports of rape, murder, and even the disposal of bodies with acid have surfaced.These crimes, including the brutal murders of Kubra, Neda, and Setayesh, reveal only a fraction of the grim reality faced by migrants in Iran.
This discrimination is deeply rooted in official policies and statements. Years ago, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, then-Interior Minister, declared that 80% of street and working children in Iran were foreign, mostly Afghan, and should be deported.
The Shargh newspaper previously reported on some of these racist policies and statements: The deputy governor of Mazandaran under Ahmadinejad’s government declared providing any services to Afghan nationals a crime.
In Nowruz 1391 (2012), Afghan citizens were banned from entering Isfahan’s Sofeh Mountain Park on Sizdah Bedar for “security” reasons.
Iran’s ambassador to Kabul in 1391 admitted to “unpleasant incidents” against migrants in Iran, which, if publicized, could have sparked a wave of anti-Afghan sentiment.
Restrictions such as bans on driving or residing for Afghans have been imposed in provinces like Mazandaran, Hormozgan, Yazd, and Kerman.
The head of Kerman’s judiciary in 1390 blamed Afghans for many of the province’s problems.
The Labor Minister under Rouhani’s government referred to the “import of shepherds from Afghanistan,” reflecting a derogatory view of migrants.
These policies and behaviors, coupled with insults, humiliation, mass detentions, torture, and street violence, form part of the shared experience of Afghan migrants in Iran.These bitter memories are now documented through beatings, slaps, ear-cutting, rape, and murder, etched into the historical memory of both nations.
The Iranian government, which portrays itself as the “mother of the Islamic world” and a symbol of Alavi justice, has remained silent in the face of these injustices. But this silence cannot conceal the deep human wounds inflicted on Afghan migrants. Isn’t it time for this cycle of violence and discrimination to end?
