Arrest of Pakistani Nationals 'Without Residence Permits' in Isfahan

The municipality of Isfahan, in collaboration with the police and the city's municipality, arrested a group of Pakistani nationals residing in eastern Isfahan. The news agency 'Mizan', affiliated with the judiciary, published images of the operation on Sunday, February 25, showing a significant number of children and disabled individuals, along with women, living in dire conditions on the outskirts of Isfahan. Mizan did not report on the fate of these Pakistanis after their arrest. The Fars news agency also published similar images of the arrest operation and stated that the 'Urban Violation Prevention and Correction Management' of the Isfahan municipality played a role in this operation. Fars reported that 50 Pakistanis were arrested and identified them as 'without residence permits' in Iran. According to Fars, these Pakistanis 'had caused social, cultural, and urban anomalies', which led to their collection on the morning of February 25 with the cooperation of the police and the judiciary. Isfahan is one of Iran's immigrant-receiving provinces, and the police in this province have declared 'marginalization' and 'immigrant reception' as two major 'problems' of Isfahan. In addition to Pakistanis, many Afghans and Iraqis also reside in Isfahan, with some lacking residence permits. Isfahan is the third province with a high population of Afghan migrants after Tehran and Razavi Khorasan. The residence of many undocumented migrants is prohibited in some provinces of Iran, and many are transferred to detention centers after arrest and returned to their home countries after a while. In recent years, the Islamic Republic has offered some Afghan and Pakistani families the option to remain in the country if one of their family members is sent to Syria and Iraq. Over the past four years, numerous reports have emerged about the deaths of Afghans and Pakistanis residing in Iran in Syria and Iraq, whose bodies have been buried in Iran. Currently, Afghans and Pakistanis residing in Iran are organized into the 'Fatimiyoun' and 'Zainabiyoun' brigades and are sent to fight in Syria and Iraq. In this context, '22,000 foreign nationals' have been arrested at the western Azerbaijan border so far, with a daily expulsion of 2,000 'illegal nationals' from Iran. A proposal for a fee collection plan from foreign nationals residing in Tehran has been approved. The presence of Afghan nationals in Mazandaran province has been declared 'prohibited'. The residence of 450,000 Afghan nationals in Iran has been extended for six months.