Iran Says Nearly 1.8 Million Undocumented Migrants Have Been Expelled or Left in Past Year
Nader Yar Ahmadi, head of the Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Centre at Iran’s Interior Ministry, said nearly 1.8 million undocumented foreign nationals were expelled from Iran or left the country voluntarily over the past year, a process he said has reduced the foreign population in Iran to less than five million.
He said that at the start of the process of “organising” foreign nationals, their population was estimated at about 6.1 million, but that figure has now declined. According to Yar Ahmadi, the change is also visible in indicators such as consumption of basic goods and the use of some services, and it is more apparent in major cities, including Tehran.
Yar Ahmadi also cited the sharp decline in the number of migrant students as another sign of the trend. He said the number of foreign students has fallen from 600,000 to 320,000, suggesting that about 280,000 migrant students have left Iran’s education system within a year.
The head of the Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Centre at the Interior Ministry also spoke about the country’s new policy to regulate migrant presence based on labour market needs. He said that under an “employer scheme”, employers can refer to the provincial offices of foreign nationals employment to recruit the workforce they need.
According to him, conditions such as having insurance, a Sana code, and registering an accurate place of residence in the relevant systems have also been set for the renewal of foreign nationals’ residence cards. Yar Ahmadi also said the presence of foreign nationals is banned in some areas and cities in Iran, and that the government’s policy is to regulate migrant presence within the framework of the law and in line with labour market needs.
The Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Centre is part of Iran’s Interior Ministry and handles the registration, residence and monitoring of migrants. In recent years, Iran has been one of the main host countries for Afghan migrants.
