• Afghanistan investigates reports Iran guards forced migrants into river

    Afghanistan is investigating reports Afghan migrants drowned after being tortured and pushed into a river by Iranian border guards.

    The migrants were caught trying to enter Iran illegally from the western Herat province on Friday, according to local media.

    The migrants were beaten and forced to jump into a river by Iranian border guards, the reports said. Some of them are said to have died.

    Iran has dismissed the allegation.

    A foreign ministry spokesman said the incident took place on Afghan territory, not Iranian, and security guards denied any involvement.

    The number involved in the incident is unconfirmed but officials said dozens of migrants crossed the border, and at least seven people died with more still missing.

    A search party has been sent to retrieve the bodies of migrants from the river.
    The Afghan Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said local officials told it “Iranian security forces arrested a number of Afghan migrants seeking work who wanted to enter Iran”.

    “They were made to cross the Harirud river [at the Afghan-Iranian border], as a result a number of them drowned and some survived,” it added.

    Shir Agha, a migrant who witnessed the incident, told Reuters the Iranian guards “warned us that if we do not throw ourselves into the water, we will be shot”.

    Another Afghan migrant, Shah Wali, alleged that the Iranian guards “beat us, then made us do hard work”.

    “They then took us by minibus near to the river, and when we got there, they threw us into the river,” he added.

    About three million Afghans live in Iran, including refugees and wage labourers. Hundreds of Afghans cross into Iran every day to find work.

    There was a mass exodus of migrants returning to Afghanistan after the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, which has recorded almost 100,000 cases of the disease to date. Many are suspected to have brought coronavirus back across the border with them.

    But as Iran seeks to ease restrictions, Afghan migrants in search of work are crossing the country’s border in greater numbers again.

    Afghan officials have expressed concern over the incident in Herat province, risking a diplomatic row at a time of already strained relations over the coronavirus pandemic.

    In a tweet to Iranian officials, Herat’s governor Sayed Wahid Qatali wrote: “Our people are not just some names you threw into the river. One day we will settle accounts.”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-52523048?__twitter_impression=true
    #Iran #frontières #rivière #Herat #Iran #hostile_environment #weaponization #enviornnement_hostile #migrations #asile #réfugiés #décès #morts #mourir_aux_frontières #morts_aux_frontières

    • Afghanistan Probes Reports Iranian Guards Forced Migrants Into River

      Afghan officials were hunting on Sunday for Afghan migrants in a river bordering Iran after reports that Iranian border guards tortured dozens and threw them into the water to keep them out of Iran.

      Authorities in western Herat province said they retrieved 12 bodies from the Harirud river and at least eight other people were missing.

      The incident could trigger a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Afghanistan at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has seen an exodus of Afghan migrants from Iran, with many testing positive. Up to 2,000 Afghans cross the border from Iran, a coronavirus hotspot, into Herat each day.

      Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said on Saturday an inquiry had been launched. A senior official in the presidential palace in Kabul said initial assessments suggested at least 70 Afghans trying to enter Iran from Herat were beaten and pushed into the Harirud river on Saturday.

      Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said the “incident” took place on Afghan soil.

      “Border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran denied the occurrence of any events related to this on the soil of our country,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

      Abdul Ghani Noori, governor of Herat’s Gulran district, said dozens of Afghan migrant workers were thrown into the river by members of the Iranian army.

      “Iranian armymen used shovels and gunshots to injure Afghan workers and threw them in water,” Noori told Reuters, adding that some of the injured workers were being treated in a hospital.

      Doctors at Herat District Hospital said they had received the bodies of Afghan migrants.

      “So far, five bodies have been transferred to the hospital. Of these bodies, it’s clear that four died due to drowning,” said Aref Jalali, head of the hospital. He added that two injured men were brought to the hospital on Sunday evening.

      The Taliban militant group, fighting to oust the Afghan government, said Iran should launch an investigation into the killings and “strictly punish the perpetrators”.

      “We have learnt that 57 Afghans on their way to the Islamic Republic of Iran for work were initially tortured by Iranian border guards and 23 of them later brutally martyred,” the Taliban said in a statement.

      Noor Mohammad said he was one of the Afghans caught by Iranian border guards as they were trying to cross into Iran in search of work.

      “After being tortured, the Iranian soldiers threw all of us in the Harirud river,” Mohammad told Reuters.

      Shir Agha, who said he also survived the violence, said at least 23 people thrown into the river were dead.

      Afghan officials that it was not the first time that Afghans had been killed by Iranian police guarding the 920-km (520-mile) border.

      As of Sunday, at least 541 coronavirus-infected people in Afghanistan were from Herat province, which recorded 13 deaths, with the majority of cases Afghan returnees from Iran, said Rafiq Shirzad, a health ministry spokesman in Herat.

      https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/05/03/world/middleeast/03reuters-afghanistan-iran-migrants.html?searchResultPosition=3
      #noyade #torture #gardes-frontière #Harirud #armée

    • Afghanistan probes report Iran guards forced migrants into river

      Survivors say at least 23 of 57 people thrown by Iranian border guards into Harirud River drowned.

      Afghanistan has begun retrieving bodies of Afghan migrants from a river in a western province after reports that Iranian border guards tortured and threw Afghans into the river to prevent their entry into Iran.

      Afghanistan’s foreign ministry in a statement on Saturday said an inquiry had been launched and a senior official in the presidential palace in Kabul said initial assessments suggested that at least 70 Afghans who were trying to enter Iran from bordering Herat province were beaten and pushed into Harirud River.

      The Harirud River basin is shared by Afghanistan, Iran and Turkmenistan.

      Doctors at Herat District Hospital said they had received the bodies of Afghan migrants, some of whom had drowned.

      “So far, five bodies have been transferred to the hospital, of these bodies, its clear that four died due to drowning,” said Aref Jalali, head of Herat District Hospital.

      The Iranian consulate in Herat denied the allegations of torture and subsequent drowning of dozens of Afghan migrant workers by border police.

      “Iranian border guards have not arrested any Afghan citizens,” the consulate said in a statement on Saturday.

      Noor Mohammad said he was one of 57 Afghan citizens who were caught by Iranian border guards on Saturday as they tried to cross into Iran in search of work from Gulran District of Herat.

      “After being tortured, the Iranian soldiers threw all of us in the Harirud river,” Mohammad told Reuters News Agency.

      Shir Agha, who said he also survived the violence, said at least 23 of the 57 people thrown by Iranian soldiers into the river had died.

      “Iranian soldiers warned us that if we do not throw ourselves into the water, we will be shot,” said Agha.
      ’We will settle accounts’

      Local Afghan officials said it was not the first time Afghans had been tortured and killed by Iranian police guarding the 920km (520 mile) long border.

      Herat Governor Sayed Wahid Qatali in a tweet to Iranian officials said: “Our people are not just some names you threw into the river. One day we will settle accounts.”

      The incident could trigger a diplomatic crisis between Iran and Afghanistan at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has seen a mass exodus of Afghan migrants from Iran with many testing positive for COVID-19.

      Up to 2,000 Afghans daily cross the border from Iran, a global coronavirus hotspot, into Herat.

      As of Sunday, at least 541 infected people are from Herat province, which recorded 13 deaths, with the majority of positive cases found among Afghan returnees from Iran, said Rafiq Shirzad, a health ministry spokesman in Herat.

      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/afghanistan-probes-report-iran-guards-forced-migrants-river-2005030926238