Nader Yar Ahmadi, the head of the Foreign Nationals Affairs Center at the Iranian Ministry of Interior, stated that the number of foreign students in the country has decreased from about 600,000 to 320,000.
Mr. Yar Ahmadi mentioned that the Islamic Republic has imposed stricter conditions for extending the residency of migrants.
The Iranian Ministry of Education had previously announced that around 600,000 Afghan students were receiving education in the country, but Nader Yar Ahmadi reported a decrease of approximately 280,000 in this figure.
Nader Yar Ahmadi stated that last year nearly 1.8 million undocumented migrants were expelled from Iran, and the foreign population in the country has dropped from 6.1 million to less than five million.
This report comes at a time when Afghanistan’s educational system is facing widespread restrictions, with over two million girls deprived of education beyond the sixth grade.
Additionally, there have been multiple reports regarding the prohibition or limitation of Afghan students’ enrollment in schools in Iran, including in the provinces of Fars, Kerman, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
The Islamic Republic has begun expelling undocumented migrants for several months now, and this process continues.
Afghan citizens residing in Iran have repeatedly complained about mistreatment by the Islamic Republic’s police, restrictions on access to services, detention, and forced expulsion back to Afghanistan.
The head of the Foreign Nationals Affairs Center of Iran stated that the policy of the Islamic Republic focuses on legalizing the presence of migrants with an emphasis on providing labor.
