Local authorities in Nimroz reported the expulsion of over twenty thousand Afghan children from Iran in the past year.

They said that these children were returned to the country alone and had gone to Iran through illegal means due to poverty.

Mohammad Haroon Wahedi, the border commander of the Nimroz Directorate of Refugees, said: "Nearly thirty to forty unaccompanied children are returned from Iran to Nimroz daily. Last year, twenty thousand expelled children were registered with us, and partner institutions at the Silk Road border are collaborating with them in health, transportation, and other issues."

Atiqullah, a twelve-year-old recently returned from Iran to Nimroz province, said that the Iranian police deported him without his family.

Atiqullah told TOLOnews: "Out of necessity, I had gone to Iran to work. I was busy working in a bakery, where I would take four or six loaves of bread home daily. I was attending school but had to leave due to the bad economic situation and went to Iran. I live with my parents and a younger brother."

"On the way to Iran, I was caught. I wanted to go there for labor work (water carrying and grazing), but I was caught and transferred to Afghanistan, and now I have no money and don't know what to do," said Mohammad, a returned child from Iran.

According to these children, many of their families are in Iran, and they have no one in Afghanistan.

"We went to Iran due to economic problems, we had no money, we were forced to work, but the Iranian government arrested me, and I want the United Nations to cooperate with us," said Zubair, a returned child from Iran.

"We ask the government and the United Nations to provide us with financial assistance so we can reach our homes," said Momen, another returned child from Iran.

Alauddin Amiri, the head of labor at the Directorate of Labor and Social Affairs in Nimroz, said: "In the past year, we have been able to transfer nearly three thousand unaccompanied children who were sent from Iran to Nimroz to their families in different provinces."

Local authorities in Nimroz said that daily, twenty to thirty Afghan children are returned from Iran to this province. Many of these children, whose families are in Iran, face an uncertain fate.