Afghan Community in Iran: Five Decades On
Iran, a country with more than 83 million population is the second global host of migrants. For more than half a century, refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan sought shelter in Iran. A report by Iran’s Budget and Planning Organization in 1986 put the number of Iraqi and Afghan refugees at 250,000 and 1.5 million respectively. Nevertheless, the majority of Iraqi refugees returned to their country following the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2002. But the situation differs totally when it comes to Afghan migrants, whose presence has had various effects on Iran’s economy and society.
