Stop the Mass Expulsion of Afghan Migrants from Iran!

We refugees, workers and women’s rights organizations, strongly condemn the Islamic Republic of Iran’s vicious, fascist campaign of mass deportation targeting Afghan migrants and asylum seekers. This assault, fueled by racism, repression, and sheer inhumanity, is being carried out with the full force of Iran’s military and intelligence apparatus.

Under the false pretense of “fighting spies,” the regime has launched a brutal crackdown, setting a July 6 deadline for undocumented Afghans to leave the country. This campaign is nothing short of state-sponsored ethnic cleansing.

In recent weeks, thousands of Afghan migrants, including children, women, and the elderly, have been forcibly deported without trial, without notice, and without any opportunity to defend themselves. Pregnant women have been dragged from hospital beds. People are being treated not as human beings but as disposable, voiceless outcasts. Homes have been demolished, businesses sealed, and children pulled out of school. In some provinces, so-called “temporary” camps have been established, but these resemble internment camps more than humanitarian shelters.

At the border, the nightmare continues. Migrants face beatings, extortion, and the confiscation of their wages and belongings. Torture is routine. And when they finally cross the border, they are met with the Taliban’s own machinery of brutality. There is no food, no medicine, no shelter. International organizations have sounded the alarm about an impending humanitarian catastrophe, but the regime doesn’t care.

This is not just an attack on Afghan migrants. It is an attack on some of the most vulnerable groups in society, workers, women, children, the elderly, and various ethnic communities who have lived peacefully in Iran for generations. It is an attack on humanity itself.

Like many oppressive regimes, including its Western counterparts, the Islamic Republic scapegoats migrants to cover for its own deepening crises: economic collapse, political failure, and fear of an awakened and angry population. By turning the most oppressed into enemies, the regime seeks to avoid accountability for the suffering it has caused.

In an attempt to deflect domestic criticism over the conflict with Israel, the Iranian government has turned its rage outward. By portraying Afghan refugees as spies or threats, it justifies mass deportations and collective punishment, shifting public anger away from its own failures.

This policy has already led to the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Afghans, many of whom have lived in Iran for decades and across generations. It is a grave human rights violation—and a calculated political move designed to crush internal dissent and maintain authoritarian control.

But even in these dark times, solidarity shines. In Zahedan, Baluchistan, and cities across Iran, workers and ordinary people are resisting. They are offering shelter, providing aid, and standing shoulder to shoulder with the persecuted. This is the face of true humanity. This is the future we fight for.

We call on human rights activists, labour unions, leftist and socialist parties, and all freedom-loving people across the globe to raise your voices. Condemn this brutal and barbaric assault. Demand an immediate end to the expulsion of Afghan migrants from Iran.

Let us unite across borders, stand against fascism, and defend the rights and dignity of all people—everywhere.

Long live humanity. Let us crush this fascist assault.

Signed:

• Middle Eastern Women & Society Organisation-MEWSO

• International Federation of Iraqi Refugees-IFIR

• International Organisation of Iranian Refugees

• No Sweat

• Federation of Iraqi Refugees

• Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women Organisation-KMEWO

• Movement for Justice by any means necessary