Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has said that since March last year, about 1.1 million illegal Afghan migrants have been repatriated to their country.

Momeni noted that about 50 percent of the migrants who are deported return to the country.

He added that his country cannot host more Afghan migrants and is trying to prevent the entry of illegal migrants by adopting various measures, including closing the borders.

According to the official, six million foreign nationals live in Iran, but about two million of them are undocumented. He stressed that there is no other option but to deport illegal migrants.

Momeni also said that foreign aid to support refugees has declined.

This comes amid repeated calls by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation to Iran and Pakistan to stop the detention, harassment, and forced deportation of Afghan refugees and to treat them in accordance with international law and good neighborliness.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said recently during his visit to Kabul, that Tehran is committed to the dignified return of Afghan refugees from Iran.

The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) said on Sunday that air pollution in Afghanistan has decreased this year compared to last year.

Zainul Abedin Abed, the agency’s deputy director for policy and expertise, said in a press conference that in the past three months, Kabul authorities took 4,211 vehicles off the road that were releasing excessive emissions.

He also stressed that the world should not politicize the issue of climate change and that developed countries should pay “compensation” to poor countries to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

“Compensation should be taken from developed countries and compensation should be paid to the affected countries. The withdrawal of the Americans or Donald Trump from the Paris Agreement is a violation of human principles. Climate change is a human issue. There must be engagement on this issue. Instead of political considerations, engagement should be opted,” Abed said.

Officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency also said that aid to fight the effects of climate change has not been cut.

“As far as we know, mostly humanitarian aid has been cut off, but projects in the environment and climate change sectors have not been impacted,” said Rohullah Amin, head of climate change department at the National Environmental Protection Agency.

NEPA officials also said that in cooperation with other government agencies, a six-month action plan has been developed to prevent the increase of air pollution.

According to officials, since the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021, the agency has held 3,000 awareness programs to reduce air pollution, in which more than 500,000 people have participated.

Officials at the agency also called on Kabul residents to refrain from using fuel that causes air pollution.

However, a number of Kabul residents complain about the increase in air pollution in recent days and ask the authorities to take more practical measures.

Air pollution in Kabul has always been a source of concern for the residents of the city.

Pakistan’s Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) heard this week that currently about 2.9 million Afghan nationals are living in Pakistan. 

Addressing the committee, the Chief Commissioner for Afghan refugees said 1.4 million Afghans are registered and 700,000 are unregistered.

He also briefed the committee on humanitarian assistance currently being given to Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which includes, shelter, food, water, sanitation, education, and healthcare.

The commissioner said however that Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas Programme (RAHA) development projects were stopped last year due to a lack of funding.

Senators Saadia Abbasi and Syed Masroor Ahsan in turn called for international support to help Pakistan cope with the Afghan refugee situation, local media reported.

Pakistan deports over 140 Afghan refugees

After stepping up efforts to deport Afghan refugees from Pakistan, the country’s ministry of refugees affairs that it had recently handed over 141 Afghan refugees, including women and children, to Afghanistan immigration authorities at Torkham border.

Bakht Jamal Gawohar, responsible for the transfer of Afghan refugees at Torkham crossing in Nangarhar Province, confirmed that this number of refugees has been handed over to this office. The prisoners include men, women and children.

Local media reports say this is the first time Pakistani authorities have sent Afghan prisoners en masse to Afghanistan on such a large scale.

According to him, most of these people were released from Islamabad prisons, where their imprisonment period was between 5 and 10 days.