CHAGAI: Iranian officials have informed their Pakistani counterparts at the Taftan border that thousands of illegal Pakistani migrants, who were trying to move towards European countries via Iran in search of a better life, are imprisoned in several jails of Iran after being arrested in different parts of the country.

It emerged after Iran deported a large number of immigrants through Raahdari Gate in Taftan, a town near the Pak-Iran border in Chagai district.

A Levies Force official told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that Pakistan had received more than 1,000 illegal immigrants from Iran during last week.

“We receive only 200 people on a daily basis as there is no more space in FIA station at Taftan,” the official said, adding these people include even women and children moving all risky ways without having valid traveling documents.

When asked about the number of people imprisoned in Iran, he said the Iranian officials, who usually deport illegal migrants, told them the number was above 5,000. He said Iranian security forces were detaining such people on a daily basis.

The official said, “As restrictions have increased owing to coronavirus along the borders with Turkey and European countries, therefore, illegal immigrants have been facing hurdles in reaching to their desired destinations.”

It is worth mentioning that security forces arrested 72 and 99 illegal Pakistani migrants who were traveling in two trucks towards Iran in recent days in Chagai and Kharan, respectively.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2020