Iran Repatriates 181,000 Afghan Refugees Since April

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Iran Repatriates 181,000 Afghan Refugees Since April

Iran has sent 181,000 Afghan refugees home since April when a UN-sponsored plan for voluntary repatriation of Afghans took effect, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

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Iran has sent 181,000 Afghan refugees home since April when a UN-sponsored plan for voluntary repatriation of Afghans took effect, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

Bazargan Amiri, governor of Taibad city in Iran's northeastern Khorasan Province, said all the repatriation was carried out via the Dogharoun border crossing.

According to a tripartite accord signed in Geneva in April, some400,000 Afghan refugees will head for home this year. The accord onthe repatriation of Afghan refugees living in Iran was signed by Iran, Afghanistan and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In a related development, Iran's Interior Ministry last Thursdaydenied reports that Afghan immigrants were mistreated and pressurized to return home.

The UNHCR has recently expressed "alarm at the sudden increase" in the number of Afghan refugee returning from Iran, which the agency attributed to "induced" pressure by the country's authorities.

Iran had initially set Aug. 11 as the deadline for Afghan refugees without proper documents to register for repatriation, butextended it to Aug 27, citing there is "great interest" among refugees to return home.

An official with Iran's Bureau of Aliens and Foreign ImmigrationAffairs (BAFIA) said earlier this month it is the best time now forthe return of refugees to their homes since each Afghan can take all their property and equal to 1,000 US dollars worth of Iranian goods to their country.

Those who leave Iran by Aug. 27 will also receive travel grants from the UNHCR, according the official.

Iran has over the past years accommodated some 2.8 million Afghan refugees, most of whom entered the country illegally.

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