Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees Condemns 'Caged' Migrants Display

On Saturday, September 20, the spokesperson for Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees condemned the display of illegal Afghan migrants 'in cages' in Shiraz during an interview with Radio Farda. Hafiz Ahmad Miahkil described the action taken by the Shiraz police as 'inhumane' and 'an insult to human dignity.' Following protests over images of detainees in Shiraz shown in cages, the social deputy of the Fars police command denied reports circulating on social media about the display of foreign nationals in the province. According to the IRNA news agency, the social deputy of the Fars police command announced on Friday, September 19, that 'the claims made on social media that Fars police detained foreign nationals and put them in cages are completely false.' The police had held an exhibition on Tuesday, September 16, showcasing 'discoveries from Shiraz police stations over the past 48 hours,' displaying items seized by the police, including drugs, alcoholic beverages, and 'unauthorized' films. In part of this exhibition, some individuals were shown with white blindfolds in metal enclosures, which some media outlets identified as 'illegal Afghan migrants.' Meanwhile, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly emphasized that these detainees were not necessarily related to foreign nationals and were mainly armed robbers and traffickers. Bahram Parsai, a representative from Shiraz, stated, 'According to the explanations from the Fars police, a number of armed and unarmed thieves, criminals, and traffickers, whether Iranian citizens or illegal foreigners, were arrested as part of a continuous social security enhancement plan and were temporarily enclosed by metal barriers.' He added that this issue was not necessarily related to foreign or Afghan nationals, thus the Fars police command denied the reports published in the media and social networks. Parsai noted that the number of illegal foreigners in Fars province is 'higher than in other provinces,' attributing a 'significant percentage of crimes' in the province to illegal and foreign nationals, and stated that their presence among police detainees was 'natural.' He further mentioned that according to police statements, this separation method was for a short time, and the suspects were handed over to judicial authorities after one or two hours. Simultaneously, the police considered this action as part of implementing 'social security plans' in Shiraz, which were executed at the request of the public to combat drug dealers, armed thieves, ordinary criminals, fugitives, and thugs. According to the police information center, these plans were executed in coordination with the judiciary. As reported by ISNA, the police information center further stated that the detainees were temporarily held on the grass of one of the police centers and were immediately processed with the presence of a judge. Concurrently with the exhibition of 'discoveries from Shiraz police stations,' Nasser Keshavarz, the deputy coordinator of the Fars police, announced that during a two-day operation, 277 'illegal foreign nationals' were arrested in the province. The release of images from this exhibition led to protests from several political figures and social media users. For instance, Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, spokesperson for former President Mohammad Khatami's government, wrote on his Instagram page, 'I am ashamed of humanity, ashamed of the people of Afghanistan.' Ali Jamali, a member of the central council of the Islamic Unity Movement, also wrote on his Facebook page, 'Shame on us for seeing and remaining silent... Why are we silent?! Why do we not protest?' This action has also been widely discussed in Telegram channels, with some social media users referring to it as 'caging' the detained Afghans. In recent years, the Iranian government has enacted regulations for the return of Afghan nationals to their country, including the 'regulation to expedite the return of Afghan nationals,' which imposes restrictions on Afghan nationals without residence permits in Iran. In some provinces of Iran, including Fars, Isfahan, Bushehr, South Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Khuzestan, Semnan, Qazvin, Kerman, Golestan, Markazi, and Yazd, the residency of Afghans has also been declared prohibited.