Iran Border Police ‘Mistreatment’ with Afghan Refugees, Deputy AMB Summoned

Iran’s deputy ambassador says the move by the Iranian policeman requires a thorough investigation for a video went viral on social media last week.Ariana News Agency- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Saturday summoned Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to Kabul Sayed Saeed Hussaini over “mistreatment” of a number of Afghan refugees by an Iranian Border police force member.

A video went viral on social media last week shows an Iranian border policeman “mistreating” a number of Afghan refugees in Iran.

The ministry said in a statement that Hussaini was summoned over “mistreatment, beating and insult of Afghan refugees by an Iranian police member”.

According to MoFA, Hussaini said the move of the Iranian police force member was in contravention of Islamic thoughts, insisting that the issue should be thoroughly investigated by Iranian officials.

The act by the Iranian police was sharply critisized by Afghans.

Following the release of the video on social media, a number of Afghan refugees who recently repatriated from Iran criticized the Iranian border police for mistreating them. But the Iran border police have rejected the allegations and said they never mistreated Afghan refugees.

The Iranian embassy in Kabul said in a statement last week that the beating and mistreatment of a number of Afghan citizens is unacceptable.

“The mistreatment and beating of a number of Afghan citizens is unacceptable,” the statement said.

The statement said the Islamic Republic of Iran swiftly launched an investigation into the incident and strongly rejected involvement of the relevent personnel in such an act.

Statistics of Ministry of Refugees and Repartriation indicate that at least three million Afghan refugees, who fled war and violence, are residing in Iran and only 800,000 have proper legal documents.

The United Nations High Council on Refugees has identified civil wars and internal conflicts as one of the leading factors increasing the number of asylum seekers worldwide, leaving Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan with nearly 50 percent of the world’s total refugee population.