IRAN - Aug. 13 - Tehran To Expel Afghan Refugees.

Immigration Agency chief Ahmad Hosseini says: "The displaced Afghans [on the territory of the Islamic Republic] are considered immigrants, not refugees, and so they should return to the home country". He announces that tens of thousands of refugees should return to Afghanistan by Aug. 27. The government plans to expel those who have not taken part in a census of immigrants that began in 2001. The government, faced with a huge influx of immigrants and finding them an economic burden, has already refused to register children of illegal immigrants at schools and has started fining employers that hire Afghans who do not have the proper documents. Those who have registered for the census are still expected to return home eventually. Nearly 2.6m Afghans took part in the immigrant census. But Tehran contends that there are at least another 250,000 who have refused to take part in the programme and must leave the country at end-Aug. (Last month, Tehran set an Aug. 11 deadline for unregistered refugees to leave, and then extended it to Aug. 27). After Aug. 27, the illegal immigrants will be subject to arrest and deportation. The decision angered human rights groups and the UN high commissioner for refugees, whose office says it has a right to review cases of those Tehran wants to expel, based on an agreement signed in Geneva in April by Iran, Afghanistan and the refugee agency. The refugee agency says there could be people entitled to remain as refugees among those forced to return to Afghanistan and that Tehran's plan violates its commitments as a member of the UN Refugee Convention. Physicians for Human Rights, a group based in Boston, also condemned Tehran's move and said that keeping Afghan children out of school would violate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Tehran has ratified.