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UNHCR expresses concern over arrests of Afghan refugees

    ISLAMABAD

    UNHCR officials in the capital Tehran expressed concern on Tuesday over reports of illegal Afghan immigrants being arrested and sent back to Afghanistan. "We are getting reports of some people being returned and we are concerned about this," UNHCR chief of mission Bo Schak told IRIN. Schak's comments come in the wake of a report by the official Iranian IRNA news agency on Sunday saying police had arrested 111 Afghan nationals who had illegally entered the northeastern Khorassan province on the border with Afghanistan.

    According to figures provided by the Iranian government in September, there are 1,482,200 documented Afghans and some 500,000 undocumented foreign aliens, mainly Afghans, living in Iran. Of the 183,000 Afghans repatriated back to Afghanistan in the past year, 133,612 were directly assisted by UNHCR and some 50,000 returned spontaneously by facilities supported by the Iranian ministry of interior.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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