A Surge in Violence Against Afghan Migrants in Iran

As security crackdowns and mass deportations of Afghan migrants from Iran intensify, recent weeks have seen a disturbing rise in reports of disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and mysterious killings. These incidents have sparked serious concerns over the safety and human rights of Afghan migrants in the country.

In the most recent case, reports have emerged of the disappearance of Samaneh Tajik, a 15-year-old Afghan girl in Tehran. According to available information, Samaneh worked at a bedsheet sewing workshop and disappeared on Wednesday, July 24, while returning home from work in the Chahardangeh district. Her whereabouts remain unknown.

In another incident, Sara Gohari, a 29-year-old sociology student at the University of Tehran, who had traveled to border areas to conduct research on the situation of Afghan migrants, was arrested on July 5 in the city of Taybad. After being held for weeks in solitary confinement at the intelligence office in Mashhad, she was transferred to Torbat-e Jam prison. According to her lawyer, Reza Shafakhah, she faces charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “photographing restricted areas,” and her case is currently under investigation at the Taybad courthouse.

In a separate tragedy, the bodies of a 25-year-old Afghan woman and her three young children were found in a home in the Mortezazadeh area of Tehran. Initial police reports indicate the woman was stabbed to death, and her children likely died from suffocation.

Another shocking case is the murder of 18-year-old Afghan youth Taha Rezaei in the Absard district of Damavand. On July 1, his body was discovered in a garden, with his hands bound and his head severed. Authorities reported that the perpetrator was an Iranian man not originally from the region.

Earlier, the mutilated remains of Kobra Rezaei, a 26-year-old Afghan woman who had been missing for nearly 50 days, were discovered in the home of an Iranian man in Pakdasht, Tehran. The killer, a factory guard, confessed to the crime, stating that he murdered her after learning of her engagement. Parts of her body were found in a trash bin and inside the suspect’s home. He had attempted to destroy the evidence using acid.

These tragedies unfold amid escalating deportations and increasing security restrictions, as Afghan migrants in Iran face mounting threats to their safety, legal standing, and basic human dignity.