Over 1,300 Activists Demand End to Iran’s Brutal Anti-Afghan Crackdown

“Deporting ‘illegal migrants’ is a euphemism for inhumane treatment of all migrants”

Over 1.5 Million Afghans Forcibly Deported from Iran So Far in 2025

In a joint letter posted online, 1,362 Iranian and Afghan activists, filmmakers, journalists, and citizens have condemned the Islamic Republic’s escalating campaign of anti-Afghan sentiment and mass deportations. The letter denounces what it describes as the “inhumane and degrading” treatment of Afghan migrants in Iran, warning that recent actions by the authorities amount to collective punishment of one of the country’s most vulnerable communities.

“This is nothing but a pretext to take revenge for Israel’s criminal attack on the most voiceless and oppressed migrant minority. This accusation is not leveled against a few individuals or groups within this community of millions, but rather against all Afghans collectively,” the signatories say in the letter

Deportations have surged at an unprecedented scale, with more than 1.5 million Afghans expelled so far from Iran in 2025,. At least 70% of these individuals were forcibly removed. Alarmingly, children make up approximately 25% of those deported.

Following the war with Israel and a July 6 deadline for undocumented migrants to leave, daily expulsions reportedly spiked from 5,000 to as many as 30,000, targeting even those with legal residency. In this post-war climate, Iranian authorities have intensified their campaign against Afghans, accusing them of “espionage” and portraying them as potential “Israeli spies”—rhetoric that has fueled longstanding discrimination and exposed Afghan migrants to heightened violence. 

These mass expulsions have created a worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where over 1.9 million returnees this year alone have overwhelmed an already fragile economy and food system. Most deportees arrive at the border with no shelter or resources, while women and girls face heightened risks under Taliban rule, including denial of education and basic rights.

The signatories of the letter call on the Islamic Republic to immediately end these mass deportations and arbitrary arrests. They also urge Iranian society to speak out against what they describe as the “normalization of state-backed injustice” and stand in solidarity with Afghan migrants.

Read the full letter below.

Letter from Over 1,300 Iranian and Afghan Activists, Filmmakers, Journalists, and Citizens

The wave of anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran, which in recent months has been expanding at an unprecedented rate, has now reached its peak under the Islamic Republic. The expulsion of migrants—previously justified with unsubstantiated claims such as “altering the demographic composition,” “raising unemployment and worsening Iran’s economic problems,” and “increasing crime”—has now, since the start of the 12-day war [between Iran and Israel], been framed with a new baseless accusation: labeling Afghans as “key elements of espionage and infiltration networks.” This is nothing but a pretext to take revenge for Israel’s criminal attack on the most voiceless and oppressed migrant minority. This accusation is not leveled against a few individuals or groups within this community of millions, but rather against all Afghans collectively.

We are well aware that the term “deporting illegal migrants” is a euphemism for inhumane treatment of all migrants, whether documented or undocumented. The brutal and degrading methods of arrest, transfer, detention in camps, and subsequent deportation—even of those who possess legal immigration documents—have instilled immense fear and helplessness not only among recent Afghan refugees but also among Afghan-born and Afghan-descended individuals who were born in Iran, have lived there for decades, and consider Iran their home. In recent days, we have witnessed news and images of the way these people are treated, searched, and expelled by the authorities—images that provoke nothing but shame, anger, and outrage.

We, the undersigned, call on the Islamic Republic to immediately end its inhumane treatment of Afghans in Iran. We also urge all citizens not to remain silent in the face of this blatant injustice. We ask you to break this silence and indifference—which the authorities interpret as complicity and “national will”—through humane, persuasive, and supportive means. The injustice being inflicted today upon Afghans and other voiceless minorities destroys, above all, the very values we claim to stand for: humanity, justice, and freedom. Let us not be indifferent to the normalization of such oppression, and let us not add to the suffering of those who consider Iran their homeland.

Signatures: 

Atousa Zarfdokhti, Amirabbas Sheikh Zeinoddin, Reyhaneh Mohammadi, Shahin Ashkiani, Ali Abdollahi, Farideh Shahgoli, Mehdi Aghaamoei Arani, Atefeh Chaharmahalian, Atousa Ebrahimnia, Atousa Ghalamfarsaei, Azar Zia, Azar Lotfi, Azarkhosh Gelara, Arezoo Javaheri, Arezoo Hosseini, Arezoo Rostami, Arezoo Rasouli, Arezoo Rezaei Majaz, Arezoo Rezaei, Arezoo Feyzi, Arash Bahrami, Arash Nasresfahani, Arash Naeimian, Arash Hadian, Arman Shirani, Arman Tabatabaei, Armita Sabeti Ashraf, Armin Yousefi, Arian Javanrooh, Arianaz Golrokh, Arian Faramarzi, Azadeh Balash, Azadeh Taghavi, Azadeh Sobout, Azadeh Jalili, Azadeh Jouran, Azadeh Chavoshian, Azadeh Kharazi, Azadeh Saberi, Azadeh Sadeghi, Azadeh Salehi, Azadeh Kamalfer, Azadeh Gol Mahmoudi, Azadeh Nemati, Azita Sabouri, Azita Mohammadi, Aso Rahimi, Assef Mobalegh, Assefeh Arefi, Alaleh Tarahomi, Alaleh Hashemi, Alma Yousefi, Ameneh Amiri, Ameneh Seyfi, Ameneh Gholami, Ameneh Fazeli, Anahita Hejazi, Ava Rezaei, Ava Alavi, Avin Farhadi, Aida Khoshnoudi, Aida Abbasi, Aida Ghajar, Aida Mohammadi, Aidin Teymouri, Ainaz Peyrovi, Ainaz Shadi, A. Norouzian, Ebrahim Mokhtari, Ehsan Eslami, Ehsan Khezrlou, Ehsan Sattari, Ehsan Shayanfard, Ehsan Abdi-Far, Ehsan Azizi, Ehsan Maleki, Ahmad Ahmadi, Ahmad Balaneh, Ahmad Bamiani, Ahmad Jafari, Ahmad Khosrovani, Ahmad Zahedi Langroudi, Ahmad Shafaei, Ahmad Saberi, Ahmadreza Rajabi, Ahmad Sattar, Ardalan Abbasian, Arezoo Rahimi, Arezoo Rezaei, Arsalan Mirzaei, Arghavan Naderpour, Orkideh Doroudi, Azadeh Feyzi, Es-haq Khalili, Asad Hekmatkhah, Asadollah Sajjadi, Esmaeil Ahmadi, Ashkan Akhlaghi, Ashkan Ghoidell, Ashkan Lahiji, Azam Akbari, Azam Jangrooi, Azam Sadat, Afra Asgari, Afrooz Partovi, Afrooz Zanjani, Afsaneh Ehsani, Afsaneh Khajavi, Afsaneh Salari, Afshin Parvaresh, Afshin Roustaei, Akbar Tak Dehghan, Akbar Nemati, Elna Hami, Elna Rafiei, Elnaz Assar, Elnaz Melikian, Elham Abolghasemi, Elham Akbari, Elham Rasouli, Elham Shahsavarzadeh, Elham Samadi, Elham Ghasemi, Elham Gerdi, Elham Gol Mohammadi, Elham Mahmoudi, Elham Mortazavi, Elham H., Elaheh Ejbari, Elaheh Omidvari, Elaheh Khosravi Yeganeh, Elaheh Salari, Elaheh Kamjou, Elaheh Manafi, Elaheh Manafi, Elaheh Hoshyari, Elina Azari, Omid Belagati, Omid Rezaei, Omid Mahmoudi, Amir Eilanlou, Amir Ayubi, Amir Torabi, Amir Habibollah, Amir Hossein Hosseini, Amir Zabihi, Amir Zamani, Amir Sabzepor, Amir Abbas Ramazani, Amir Abbasian, Amir Farahmand, Amir Mohammad Changizi Mohammadi, Amir Mohammadi, Amir Madani, Amir Niksar, Amirhossein Bazgir, Amirhossein Peybarah, Amirhossein Hassanzadeh, Amirhossein Khalili Pir, Amirhossein Ataei, Amirreza Rezayan, Amirsajad Taliban, Amir Lali, Amin Parvin, Amin Davari, Amin Fattahi, Amin Kamijani, Amin Mardi, Ansieh Ensandoost, Anoush Ashouri, Anoush Ghasemi, Anoush Kiani, Anoushirvan Lotfi, Anoushirvan Bahrami, Anoushirvan Rahmati, Anoushirvan Tabatabaei, Anoushirvan Zand, Anahita Behzadi, Anahita Motamedi, Anahita Shokri, Anahita Naderi, Anahita Zare, Anahita Rafiei, Anahita Khosravi, Anahita Nouri, Anahita Yaghoubi, Anahita Talebzadeh, Anahita Jalili, Anahita Ghasempour, Anahita Esfandiari, Anahita Heidari, Anahita Mansouri, Anahita Khatami, Anahita Kamali, Anahita Mohammadi, Anahita Alizadeh, Anahita Pourmoradian, Anahita Farhadi, Anahita Salimi, Anahita Tabesh, Anahita Koohestani, Anahita Rezaei, Anahita Khakpour, Anahita Hosseini, Anahita Fathi, Anahita Daryanavard, Anahita Khorrami, Anahita Zarabi, Anahita Amini, Anahita Aslani, Anahita Rahmani, Anahita Behnoud, Anahita Fadaei, Anahita Karami, Anahita Sadeghi, Anahita Montazeri, Anahita Khademi, Anahita Yekta, Anahita Yeganeh, Anahita Alavi, Anahita Khosrowshahi, Anahita Bahadori, Anahita Nabavi, Anahita Tahmasebi, Anahita Esmaili, Anahita Bahrami, Anahita Pirooz, Anahita Tehrani, Anahita Farzaneh, Anahita Boroumand, Anahita Dadgar, Anahita Shams, Anahita Pourjavadi, Anahita Shafiei, Anahita Zand, Anahita Noori, Anahita Sohrabi, Anahita Dehghan, Anahita Aram, Anahita Rad, Anahita Pourmand, Anahita Rastegar, Anahita Bozorgi, Anahita Aryan, Anahita Mahmoudi, Anahita Kiani, Anahita Tabrizi, Anahita Shahbazi, Anahita Khakzad, Anahita Daneshvar, Anahita Moshiri, Anahita Nasiri, Anahita Saleh, Anahita Beigzadeh, Anahita Tavakoli, Anahita Afshar, Anahita Hosseinzadeh, Anahita Zamani, Anahita Kaveh, Anahita Parto, Anahita Khajavi, Anahita Goudarzi, Anahita Razi, Anahita Bahmani, Anahita Goudarzi, Anahita Ahmadi, Anahita Rezazadeh, Anahita Vaziri, Anahita Najafi, Anahita Rahbar, Anahita Shafaghi, Anahita Adeli, Anahita Khadem, Anahita Kia, Anahita Abdi, Anahita Nourbakhsh, Anahita Esnaashari, Anahita Shariati, Anahita Fathi, Anahita Kamjou, Anahita Sattari, Anahita Zakeri, Anahita Nasr, Anahita Ghaffari, Anahita Namazi, Anahita Bayat, Anahita Mahdavi, Anahita Modarres, Anahita Ramin, Anahita Tehranchi, Anahita Parsai, Anahita Najarian, Anahita Borjian, Anahita Lotfi, Anahita Keykhosravi, Anahita Gohari, Anahita Shafiei, Anahita Boroumand, Anahita Yousefi, Anahita Pirasteh, Anahita Hedayati, Anahita Bakhshi, Anahita Keshavarz, Anahita Hosseini, Anahita Bakhtiar, Anahita Alizadeh, Anahita Koosha, Anahita Yazdani, Anahita Bahramnejad, Anahita Zolfaghari, Anahita Yeganehfar, Anahita Marzban, Anahita Nazerzadeh, Anahita Sadr, Anahita Binesh, Anahita Jorfi, Anahita Peyravi, Anahita Farshchi, Anahita Khastar, Anahita Shafaghat, Anahita Rastegar, Anahita Nikfarjam, Anahita Jalayer, Anahita Mohseni, Anahita Bina, Anahita Azad, Anahita Mohajer, Anahita Behnam, Anahita Azimi, Anahita Sabet, Anahita Ebrahimi, Anahita Moradi, Anahita Ramezani, Anahita Torkashvand, Anahita Mazaheri, Anahita Panahi, Anahita Parsa, Anahita Bahadoran, Anahita Esmailpour, Anahita Farjam, Anahita Hakimi, Anahita Keshmiri, Anahita Shahidi, Anahita Doroudian, Anahita Ghahremani, Anahita Omidi, Anahita Mahdizadeh, Anahita Yazdanpanah, Anahita Sharifi, Anahita Rouhani, Anahita Mehra, Anahita Hekmat, Anahita Vahedi, Anahita Raeisi, Anahita Gharibi, Anahita Khatib, Anahita Nozari, Anahita Morovati, Anahita Zanganeh, Anahita Bazargan, Anahita Cheraghi, Anahita Bavand, Anahita Monajati, Anahita Naderpour, Anahita Pirani, Anahita Soltani, Anahita Kashani, Anahita Nikseresht, Anahita Ashouri, Anahita Yazdani, Anahita Roudaki, Anahita Alinejad, Anahita Faramarzi, Anahita Khakpour, Anahita Yaghoobi, Anahita Akhavan, Anahita Shariatmadari, Anahita Darvishi, Anahita Mobarak, Anahita Vafa, Anahita Salehi, Anahita Rahnama, Anahita Jafari, Anahita Aghajani, Anahita Parsapour, Anahita Golkar, Anahita Foroutan, Anahita Taba, Anahita Ramin, Anahita Asgari, Anahita Ashrafi, Anahita Tavassoli, Anahita Rahimi, Anahita Kalantar, Anahita Zarghami, Anahita Nikou, Anahita Behnoud, Anahita Ghorbani, Anahita Esfahani, Anahita Bahrami, Anahita Samiei, Anahita Farshad, Anahita Majd, Anahita Fadaei, Anahita Mehran, Anahita Vali, Anahita Sabeti, Anahita Afzali, Anahita Khaleghi, Anahita Goudarzi, Anahita Keyhani, Anahita Khajeh, Anahita Mohammadzadeh, Anahita Danesh, Anahita Zolghadr, Anahita Binafard, Anahita Diba, Anahita Firoozi, Anahita Amini, Anahita Habibi, Anahita Khodadadi, Anahita Pahlavan, Anahita Zand, Anahita Hosseinzadeh, Anahita Faramarzi, Anahita Ramezanpour, Anahita Bayani, Anahita Rouzbeh, Anahita Javid, Anahita Piroozfar, Anahita Asadian, Anahita Darabi, Anahita Bozorgmehr, Anahita Yousefzadeh, Anahita Kian, Anahita Borhani, Anahita Delavari, Anahita Panjaki, Anahita Latifi, Anahita Hosseinpour, Anahita Khademian, Anahita Parsaee, Anahita Shabani, Anahita Ghadimi, Anahita Moharrami, Anahita Kamali, Anahita Pishva, Anahita Boroumand, Anahita Mansouri, Anahita Khosravi, Anahita Bahmani, Anahita Tehrani, Anahita Yazarlou, Anahita Shojaei, Anahita Moradi, Anahita Fattahi, Anahita Jahanbakhsh, Anahita Ghaffari, Anahita Khajavi, Anahita Hedayati, Anahita Farahani, Anahita Mohebbi, Anahita Piroozmand, Anahita Arjomand, Anahita Kavoosi, Anahita Moshiri, Anahita Rahbar, Anahita Teymouri, Anahita Parto, Anahita Khadem, Anahita Pakravan, Anahita Esmaili, Anahita Delaram, Anahita Saeidi, Anahita Moosavi, Anahita Parsa, Anahita Ghobadi, Anahita Shadmehr, Anahita Khalili, Anahita Bazrafkan, Anahita Nazari, Anahita Kordestani, Anahita Amouzgar, Anahita Paydar, Anahita Zamani, Anahita Tavakoli, Anahita Bahador, Anahita Sohrabi, Anahita Rouzitalab, Anahita Khatami, Anahita Jomeh, Anahita Goudarzi, Anahita Hashemi, Anahita Khorrami, Anahita Afshar, Anahita Rad, Anahita Lotfi, Anahita Hossaini, Anahita Kermani, Anahita Vaziri, Anahita Ahmadian, Anahita Motamedi, Anahita Shahsavari, Anahita Sabouri, Anahita Peyman, Anahita Hosseini, Anahita Shariat, Anahita Rouhani, Anahita Biglari, Anahita Shams, Anahita Khodayari, Anahita Farjam, Anahita Norouzi, Anahita Khalkhali, Anahita Pahlavan, Anahita Nabavi, Anahita Vakili, Anahita Kianmehr, Anahita Esfandiari, Anahita Zolfaghari, Anahita Yarahmadi, Anahita Boroujerdi, Anahita Qasemi, Anahita Tabatabai, Anahita Ghanbari, Anahita Moradi, Anahita Pirmoradian, Anahita Ashna, Anahita Rahpeyma, Anahita Ghaemi, Anahita Shoaei, Anahita Borjian, Anahita Azarian, Anahita Madani, Anahita Vafaie, Anahita Razavi, Anahita Jafari, Anahita Nikzad, Anahita Mansourian, Anahita Pouyan, Anahita Kaviani, Anahita Ghadiri, Anahita Tabrizi, Anahita Sattari, Anahita Kamyar, Anahita Farivar, Anahita Khoshkholgh, Anahita Nouri, Anahita Behrangi, Anahita Shadlou, Anahita Parnian, Anahita Yousefi, Anahita Khakpour, Anahita Shafiei, Anahita Morovat, Anahita Borhani, Anahita Chamanara, Anahita Karimi, Anahita Daryaei, Anahita Farhadi, Anahita Mehran, Anahita Kargar, Anahita Rezazadeh, Anahita Omrani, Anahita Bahrami, Anahita Lashkari, Anahita Piroz, Anahita Soleimani, Anahita Ghadirian, Anahita Shakiba, Anahita Ramin, Anahita Keyhani, Anahita Vahidi, Anahita Meshkat, Anahita Zand, Anahita Keshavarz, Anahita Boroumandi, Anahita Tavassoli, Anahita Soofi, Anahita Poursoltani, Anahita Parnianfar, Anahita Delavari, Anahita Tondguyan, Anahita Zare, Anahita Roosta, Anahita Dastgheib, Anahita Faramarzi, Anahita Abbaspour, Anahita Pirouzfar, Anahita Yazdani, Anahita Noori, Anahita Barzegar, Anahita Khaleghi, Anahita Mohseni, Anahita Shariatmadari, Anahita Vakil, Anahita Rafiee, Anahita Motlagh, Anahita Goudarzi, Anahita Pashaei, Anahita Taghavi, Anahita Nasiri, Anahita Lajevardi, Anahita Fallah, Anahita Gharib, Anahita Darvishi, Anahita Torabi, Anahita Nazer, Anahita Ghaedi, Anahita Partovi, Anahita Komeili, Anahita Modarresi, Anahita Khonsari, Anahita Bahadori, Anahita Rouzbehani, Anahita Sharifi, Anahita Omidi, Anahita Alavi, Anahita Esmaeili, Anahita Nozari, Anahita Fouladi, Anahita Dehghan, Anahita Hosseinpour, Anahita Akhavan, Anahita Rahimzadeh, Anahita Gharavi, Anahita Pahlavanian, Anahita Khorram, Anahita Najafi, Anahita Fathi, Anahita Alipour, Anahita Yeganeh, Anahita Jalili, Anahita Bayat, Anahita Habibi, Anahita Montazeri, Anahita Ashrafi, Anahita Rastegar, Anahita Sadeghi, Anahita Joneydi, Anahita Shahbazi, Anahita Nematollahi, Anahita Khatib, Anahita Piroozmand, and Anahita Kordbacheh.