Terminologists and inciting Afghan phobia/ Does organizing mean rejecting the border of all immigrants?

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - International Service: Watan Imroz newspaper has written in the continuation of this note: For decades, the term "get an Afghani" has been mentioned among the people of Iran and even the Afghan immigrants themselves.

Perhaps, the most important focus of the reformist media's attack on the Afghan community living in Iran these days is "security breaches" and "unreasonable use of public facilities". People who immigrated to Iran or became refugees due to many insecurities in Afghanistan, and some of them have been in Iran for several generations, are now being presented as a potential threat by the reformist media.

The "organization" of the immigration issue is an issue that has been emphasized in recent years, especially in the 13th government, and it seems that its extension should be expected in the 14th government. Now the question is: "Samandhi means closing most of the borders and rejecting the borders of existing immigrants?" In this report, we intend to discuss the series of issues related to immigration and determine how the relationship between Iranian society and immigrants should be formulated.

In the first stage, it should be known that we should be able to understand the phenomenon of migration and find a sufficient and correct understanding of the Afghan community present in Iran. That is, until we can gain sufficient knowledge of the opportunities, threats and capacities of the people of the eastern neighbor, all our policies will fail in a not very long period of time, because in this situation it is possible for the immigrants to return in different ways. In this regard, you should pay attention to the following points so that you can understand the phenomenon of immigration to Iran and act with knowledge to make policies and control the issue of immigration.

1- In the world, we have an immigrant, a displaced person and a refugee. Sometimes, many people who comment in this regard take a stand without considering the difference between the issue of immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons, and this causes the society to misunderstand and create differences.
2- Iran has never had a serious policy regarding the attraction and absorption of immigrants. This issue means that the losses of the phenomenon of group or individual migration plague Iran, but it does not enjoy its benefits. One of the most important goals for attracting immigrants is economic investment. Every country has a certain policy to attract immigrants (such as Iranians investing in Turkey's housing sector by buying houses or large companies investing in the Persian Gulf countries to enjoy benefits such as tax evasion), but this issue is very weak in Iran, so that less immigrants tends to move towards it.
3- It should be known that no country in the world will happily open its arms to a few million immigrants, so the fact that Iran has accepted a large number of immigrants is a humanitarian and humanitarian issue, but it is certain that this issue can be interpreted in other ways. will be It means that Iran has accepted millions of immigrants and has not been able to present a correct image of this humanitarian behavior.
4- Soil is not accepted in Iran's immigration system, but blood and race are criteria. In most countries of the world, soil is the criterion.
5- The statistics of immigrants and refugees in Iran are not clear and transparent. This issue is due to the fact that in these years no attempt has been made to calculate the accurate statistics of immigrants through various statistical systems. For example, most immigrants cannot use facilities such as SIM card, bank account and other social services with passport registration information. This issue causes this to happen illegally and rental accounts and unknown SIM cards become popular. There are almost no online systems that require immigrants to provide information. One of the online systems that is currently considered as a benchmark is the system of the National Migration Organization "Sahma", which provides services to immigrants living in Tehran province.
6- According to the claims of informed people, 35% of the immigrants who entered the country in the last two years are Hazaras (Persian-speaking Shiites). The second 35% are Tajiks (Persian-speaking Sunnis). The remaining 30%, nearly 13% are Pashtuns and the rest are Uzbeks, Qazalbash, Sayyids, etc.
7- We have a large number of anonymous people in Iran. Those who were born in Iran, but Iran did not give them a birth certificate, nor did they try to get citizenship from Afghanistan. An opportunity should be provided so that this part of the immigrant community can declare their identity and provide services to the country in return for the services they receive.
8- It should be noted that 700,000 people from the Afghan population of Iran have never seen their previous country.
9- According to the law, we must give birth certificates to the 3rd and 4th generation.
10- The documents that Afghans in Iran must receive are: a. Amish card (belonging to immigrants with nearly 20 years of experience) b. Residence booklet (for education, treatment, etc., which is another form of residence documents) c. Employment card or permit d. traffic sheet e. Academic support sheet.
12- More than 94% of immigrants in our country are Afghans.

Based on the above-mentioned points, it can be said that the first and most important step for policy making regarding Afghan immigrants is to obtain the statistical population and categorize and evaluate the geographical distribution of these people. Whether the basis of our behavior is based on the policies of a single nation or whether we want to adopt specific declaration policies like other countries of the world; We must first be able to have a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the people who are present in the country and have settled in Iran for any reason, whether it is due to immigration, asylum, or displacement. It seems that the first step of our action in the field of immigration policy is to create statistical transparency and create an accurate database.

The second policy-making step to create order among Afghan immigrants is to classify the types of immigrants, because in the current situation, if a person entered illegally from the border today, or if he immigrated to Iran 50 years ago, they are still called immigrants. And they are looked at with one look. In this regard, the formation of the National Migration Organization and the consolidation of all services in a specific mechanism can greatly help the problem of organizing immigrants. It is important to mention that the government's efforts to establish this organization have not been successful so far.

The third step in policy-making is passing through the stage of anonymity. Currently, many of those who live in Iran are working with other people's facilities due to legal restrictions. For this purpose, it is necessary for immigrants to receive a residence ID along with a bank card and a SIM card as soon as they enter the country, which is actually a kind of immigrant identity tracking. At this stage, the address of the residence of the immigrants must also be verified. In addition to social and economic benefits, this point is also completely safe.

So far, the background of all our policies implemented during these decades is the issue of return. It means that we have shown the Afghans that you are guests and you must return. Unfortunately, this type of behavior and policy has turned our country into a launching pad for elite and capable immigrants. The strange thing is that immigrants in our country earn money with subsidies and without paying taxes and with the country's infrastructure, they learn, grow, become aware of economic relations, etc., but they sell their products in other countries. It should also be noted that a person who is useful or a person who is more permanent should not be the same as an immigrant who is neither useful nor permanent. One of the ideas proposed by the activists in this field is "Staircase of Hope". With this idea, the government puts immigrants on a path and race that is both for the benefit of the country and for their own benefit. Based on this, a ladder is defined and according to each ladder, rights and at the same time duties are defined for immigrants. As someone who was on a ladder did his homework well, we will take him to a higher ladder.

Among the other issues that currently exist with regard to immigrants, is the issue of personal taste and a kind of resistance from low-level employees and managers, which has almost led to the closure of the law. This also depends on several factors. First is the negative view towards Afghans and then the strong sense of nationalism among Iranian society. In order to pass this stage, it is necessary to put the monitoring of the institutions more precisely on the agenda and demand the implementation of the law.

The final point in this matter is the issue of taking steps towards globalization. If our Islamic revolution has universal demands and seeks to overcome its political borders, it is necessary to open its cultural doors first and present another reading of identity and culture in which there is a capacity to share with other cultures.

In the current situation, we have not made any effort to accept Afghans from the Iranian society. The image of Iranian people towards immigrants is that they are workers without social rights. Based on this approach, the type of interaction our people have with immigrants (except for Europeans) is very low, and immigrants are not even considered second-class citizens, although we have often worked with these people, but we have never tried to create an identity for them or have cultural interaction. . Therefore, the unrealistic mental stereotypes of the Iranian society have been formed from the people of Afghanistan. Afghanistan's entanglement with poverty, problems, social crimes and dozens of other issues makes this convergence impossible.

Today, the only social institutions of Afghans that are allowed to operate officially are religious groups. There are no active forums. At this stage, it is necessary to enter into the issue of creating an identity for the Afghans in Iran. As long as the conditions for investment by Afghans in Iran are not created and these people do not feel their presence in the media and press, we cannot use the potential of immigrants well.

Finally, the concern about the possibility of civil disorder, or security breaches by immigrants who have entered Iran illegally, is a valid concern. On the other hand, benefiting from the country's facilities is acceptable if corresponding services are provided to the society and useful for the country. Currently, because immigrants consider themselves as marginalized groups, due to their position, or because they do not have the ability to be present in many social arenas, they start creating communication systems that reflect their experiences and interactions with the dominant group and in Here, it is important for policymakers to provide "ways to avoid conflict between immigrant groups and the dominant group".

In this regard, we can mention 9 groups of immigrants that should be categorized:
A- Shiite Afghans living in religious areas of Iran
B- Seasonal immigrants who come to Iran seasonally to work with a 3-month passport
C- Immigrants who reside in Iran so that the conditions for their migration to the West are provided
D- Skilled Afghan workers working in commercial and service places such as workshops, companies, shops and stores
E- Afghan elites active in companies and sports fields, which by the way, Iran has provided the conditions for their presence to some extent.
F- Immigrants active in mosques, hosseiniyehs, and even some colonies for Afghans, such as Balkh mansion.
G- Afghans who are members of defense and military groups such as Fatemiyoun Brigade
H- The child of an Afghan father and an Iranian mother (most of these people live in Sistan and Balochistan, and so far Iran has not issued a birth certificate to the child of an Iranian mother who has an Afghan wife, but in other provinces this issue has progressed to some extent)
i- Extremist groups that are stationed in Iran for the purpose of acts of sabotage such as terror or espionage.
In this regard, it should be known that a separate and related policy can be prepared with each of these groups. Currently, the image presented by the reformist media to the Iranian society is highly sensitive and causes social differences. The image of the immigrant in Iran is a demeaning image, and the line of denigration is being strengthened by a current that once suggested that Iran go to war with the Taliban! So fast and so thoughtless.