The Iranian government is currently carrying out one of its largest expulsion campaigns targeting refugees, primarily Afghan nationals, who make up the vast majority of migrants in the country. Of the approximately six million Afghans who have settled in Iran – fleeing war, political instability and economic crises – the two million who hold a temporary document granting them a provisional residence permit are now being threatened with expulsion. Much like undocumented migrants, nearly four million Afghans now risk being sent out of the country.

These two million people hold a "registration slip," a document issued by Iranian authorities to undocumented migrants while awaiting possible regularization. Until March, their presence in the country was tolerated. Since then, after an announcement from the ministry declared that they would be denied access to basic services (education, healthcare, housing), the pressure has only mounted and expulsions have begun. At the end of May, the Interior Ministry ordered these migrants to book an appointment before June 7 to start a regularization process; after this deadline, they would be considered undocumented. Of the two million holders of this document, only six categories of people will be allowed to legally remain in the country – among them, former military personnel of the previous Afghan regime, before the Taliban takeover in August 2021. For everyone else, the deadline to leave remains set at July 6.

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