Dozens of migrants have been found frozen to death along the border between Afghanistan and Iran. In recent days hundreds of Afghans have set off towards Iran in a bid to escape the humanitarian crisis gripping the country.
The refugees were trying to enter Taybad in Iran through an unofficial route from Islam Qala. However, they appear to have been caught out by a severe cold spell that has resulted in freezing temperatures and snow. An Afghan refugee – who visited morgues near the border – told the news website Afghanistan International that he had counted the bodies of more than 40 people.
Relatives of the victims have been asked not to travel to the border collect their dead.
Authorities said that the bodies would be transferred from the border a collection point, once officials have completed administrative tasks.
Around six million Afghans were believed to be living in Iran up until the beginning of this year. Since January, Tehran has introduced a crackdown on Afghan refugees, deporting hundreds of thousands.
Nader Yar-Ahmadi, the head of Iran’s Centre for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affair, claimed authorities had returned as many as 1.6 million Afghans to date.
“These individuals have been removed from the total number of Afghan nationals in the country,” he told Iran’s ISNA news agency.
“If we subtract the 1.6 million deported from the estimated 6.1 million Afghans previously present, about 4.5 million remain in Iran.”
Mass expulsions intensified in the aftermath of the short war between Israel and Iran in June 2025.
However, there has been a spike in the number of undocumented Afghans entering Iran since September.
Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities to halt the “forced expulsions”. They described the deportations as “unlawful” and called on the government to halt them immediately.
