As the world marks World Refugee Day on June 20th, a human rights group is drawing attention to the growing suffering of Afghan refugees in Iran, especially women, children, and activists who continue to live in fear, poverty, and neglect.
Maryam Marof Arwin, a leading Afghan human rights defender and founder of the Purple Saturdays Movement, has warned that the situation for Afghan refugees in Iran has become even more dangerous in recent months. She told AsiaNews that many refugees live in extremely harsh and unsafe conditions, with little support or protection.
Even before recent military strikes in the region, many Afghan refugees in Iran—particularly women and children—were already facing severe hardship. Arwin said many were being treated unfairly, lacked basic needs like food, water, and shelter, and feared being forced back to Afghanistan, where their lives would be at risk.
An 18-year-old Afghan, Abdul Wali, recently died in an Israeli airstrike in Iran. He had moved there just six months earlier in search of work. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the situation in Afghanistan has worsened significantly. Nearly half of the country’s population now depends on humanitarian aid, and millions are at risk of hunger.
Iran is believed to host between three and five million Afghan refugees. However, only a small portion are officially registered. The rest live without legal status, making them more vulnerable to arrest, abuse, and deportation. Reports say that Afghan nationals make up the vast majority of foreign prisoners in Iran, with many accused of minor offences such as crossing the border illegally. This year alone, at least 25 Afghan prisoners have reportedly been executed.
The Purple Saturdays Movement, which Arwin founded shortly after the Taliban takeover, works to protect women, ethnic minorities, former government workers, and other vulnerable groups. The organisation has tried to assist refugees who fled the recent airstrikes by moving some women and families to safer areas, but resources are limited. Their efforts raised just a small amount—around 2.5 million Iranian tomans (less than one US dollar)—enough to meet only a portion of urgent needs.
“These families fled the Taliban with hope, but now live in fear and deep poverty,” Arwin said. “Many do not even have access to clean drinking water, food, or medical care.”
She stressed that returning these people to Afghanistan would place their lives in serious danger and called it a “double victimisation” if they are also neglected in Iran.
The Purple Saturdays Movement includes several working groups focused on areas like health, education, political leadership for women, and protection of persecuted groups. Arwin believes the only way forward is through a united, peaceful resistance to extremism, and the building of a society that respects freedom and human dignity.
In her appeal on World Refugee Day, Arwin called on the United Nations and global human rights organisations to take urgent action. She urged them to clearly state that targeting civilians in conflict zones is a violation of international law and a war crime.
Rewritten version of the original article from AsiaNews.it.
