No more capacity to host migrants in Iran: Minister
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said on Saturday that the country has no capacity to host more migrants, adding that good measures have been taken by the government to organize migrants.
Referring to the presence of millions of illegal migrants in the country, Momeni said, “Our country is not able to allocate so many subsidies and job opportunities to foreign nationals because there are six million foreign nationals in the country, some of whom are illegal.”
He also pointed to the progress in construction of walls along the borders to prevent the illegal entry of migrants in the country, saying that organizing of foreign nationals starts from the borders and the regulations related to blocking the entry routes are being implemented.
He also said that the laws related to the employment of migrants by Iranian employers must be implemented properly, although good measures have been taken in this regard.
Under the international laws, the country which hosts migrants from other countries should receive international aid while the international aid given to Iran with several million immigrants is close to zero.
Iran has recently begun to repatriate illegal Afghan nationals living in Iran. The move is part of the efforts to meet the target set by the government to deport two million illegal migrants by the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20.
The number of illegal immigrants in Iran is unofficially estimated to be around 10 million, with many seeking better economic opportunities or fleeing conflict in their home country, especially since the 2021 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban.