Entire nation was expelled due to connections with Israeli intelligence agency

Author: Yevgeny Krutikov

Millions of Afghan citizens need to leave Iran in the coming days. This forced deportation has triggered a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Afghanistan. Why did the Afghan community anger the Iranian government? Why is this solution unable to completely resolve the issue?

The deadline set by the Iranian government for illegal immigrants to leave will end this Sunday. These immigrants are mainly Afghans, and according to different statistics, there are as many as 6 million Afghans in Iran, of which 4 million are illegal immigrants. It has also been reported that Tajikistan has made a similar decision regarding Afghan immigrants ("expel within two weeks"), but it has not yet been officially confirmed.

Afghan illegal immigrants who remain in Iran after this Sunday will face forced deportation or arrest. There is no doubt that these strict measures targeting a population of millions (the diaspora) stem from the recent 12-day war between Iran and Israel, during which Afghans (Pashtuns and Balochs) were accused of cooperating with Israeli intelligence agencies.

Related arrests have quickly taken place, with law enforcement officers catching suspects at scenes such as garages manufacturing drones and passing intelligence. The facts have proven that illegal Afghans indeed constitute a highly dangerous group, often involved in anti-government activities and even collaborating with Israeli intelligence agencies. Without hesitation, the Iranian parliament urgently passed a resolution to deport illegal Afghan immigrants. This involves millions of people, and Iran is actually expelling an entire ethnic group and nation.

It should be said that this is not a sudden anti-Afghan sentiment caused by the war with Israel in Iran. In March this year, the Iranian parliament had already passed a resolution to expel Afghans, setting a specific deadline — March 20th. About 700,000 people left Iran at that time, but the goal of completely solving the problem of illegal immigration was not achieved. Pakistan and Tajikistan also carried out similar actions at the same time, although the number of illegal Afghans in those countries is much smaller. A new ethnic group has formed in Iran, with many Afghans born in Iran, even second-generation, but according to local laws, they are still considered illegal immigrants.

In this group, the so-called "dual identity" is greatly exaggerated, which has provided a breeding ground for Israeli intelligence agencies to recruit personnel, because the "dual identity" strategy is one of the main methods of Mossad.

Now, after the Iranian government and parliament announced the final deadline for deportation, long queues have formed at the border. Although there is no exact data, and it is impossible to have exact data, obviously tens of thousands of Afghans are leaving Iran daily for Herat.

International organizations responsible for refugee affairs and humanitarian aid have issued warnings. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) pointed out that 283,000 people were deported from Iran in June, directly related to the escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel. The organization emphasized that the border areas of Herat and Nimruz are overwhelmed, with limited local resources, and tensions between returning migrants and receiving communities continue to escalate. "We see that the number of returns is extremely unstable, and the border communities are struggling to cope. If immediate and sustained assistance is not provided, the situation could develop into a humanitarian disaster," said a representative of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

The returning migrants face issues such as housing, employment, food shortages, and lack of basic living conditions. Many families do not have documents, and some children have never set foot on Afghan soil before. Spontaneous refugee camps have emerged in western Afghanistan, where water, electricity, and medical resources are severely lacking. International funding for humanitarian projects in Afghanistan has been continuously reduced, forcing relevant institutions to reduce food rations and medical services. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has called on the international community to urgently mobilize resources to avoid large-scale population movements and public health emergencies.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan has struggled to bear such pressure since the beginning of this year. Foreign and international observers say that over 900,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan since the beginning of the year due to the anti-immigration policies of neighboring countries.

"Afghanistan cannot deal with this alone. The large-scale return from Iran (after being expelled from Pakistan) has placed a huge burden on an already fragile Afghan system, especially in border areas. The situation in the returning regions is also severe, with receiving communities struggling to cope with limited resources and weak infrastructure," said Jorge Galindo, a UN representative.

The tribal system has also had a negative impact on the situation. Many Afghans did not migrate alone, but moved their entire family, tribe, or even village. Local communities are also organized in a tribal manner and are unwilling to accept tribes that they consider "foreigners," leading to conflicts. Moreover, agricultural land in Afghanistan is already scarce, and the feudal and tribal ownership of land is recognized by religion (land is considered a gift from God to landlords or tribes — the Soviet social reforms in Afghanistan failed precisely for this reason), and there are not enough jobs in cities to accommodate so many people.

At the same time, Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan have the legal right to control immigration policies and take measures against illegal immigrants. This is indeed related to national security. According to data from UN experts, 90% of the 900,000 Afghans who have been expelled from neighboring countries since the beginning of this year have no documents at all and have no intention of legalizing their status.

This not only provides a breeding ground for criminal activities, but also creates an opportunity for the intelligence agencies of hostile forces (first and foremost, Israel). The Iranian counterintelligence agency is unable to conduct precise operations among millions of expatriates.

In addition, national security issues involve not only the large-scale cooperation of Pashtuns and Balochs with "Mossad," but also stabilizing the labor market, regulating the black market, combating drug trafficking, smuggling, and human trafficking. Not to mention that Afghans have disrupted the traditional ethnic and religious balance in Iran. They are mostly Sunni Muslims, and their language is similar to Persian, but not the main language of Iran.

It is worth noting that Pakistan also faces similar problems. However, in Pakistan, illegal Afghan expatriates may be exploited by India.

After the partition of British India in 1947, some Afghan families even entire tribes moved to India and settled there. Due to their European-like facial features, they were called "Franks" (this word is used to refer to Europeans not only in India and Pakistan, but throughout the East), and they occupied a relatively high position in the caste society. A typical example is the Afghan Kapoor actor and director family, starting with Raj Kapoor, who was popular in the Soviet Union.

However, the standard of living in Iran is much higher than in Pakistan, so Afghan immigrants mainly flow westward (i.e., to Iran).

It is hard to imagine how Iran can carry out such a large-scale immigration deportation under the infrastructure-poor conditions on the other side of the border. The Taliban government in Kabul has not yet fully controlled the entire territory of the country, and we also do not know what policies the Taliban will adopt towards these tribes or whether they intend to accept such a large number of returning refugees.

Evidently, expelling millions of illegal immigrants can only bring short-term relief for Iran.

Mossad has indeed used Pashtuns and Balochs extensively to achieve its goals, but in the eyes of Tehran, expelling illegal immigrants is more about eliminating the consequences rather than the root cause. This approach cannot completely eliminate the Israeli intelligence network. It is necessary to strike at the means used by Israelis, such as prioritizing tracking communication systems with agents — this is more effective than mass expulsion. Moreover, if Tehran had intended to conduct such complex operations originally, it would now have lost the possibility of countering the recruited agents. More complex operations would be even more impossible to carry out.

However, Iran believes that mass deportation of illegal Afghan immigrants is not only more preferable in terms of counter-intelligence, but also beneficial for improving the overall national situation. Of course, this decision carries a strong emotional Eastern color, reflecting the inherent idea of wanting to solve all problems once and for all. Whether this approach is correct will be answered by time. At least, for those who regard maintaining Iran's unity and its multi-ethnic and multi-religious structure as their main political and social goal, this approach is attractive.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7526109875522142762/

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