US Deputy Secretary of State: We Demand Iran Stop Violence Against Refugees

The US Deputy Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights said he was horrified that Afghan migrants and refugees are being drowned, beaten, and burned alive by Iranian border guards and police.

Robert Destro wrote on Twitter on Saturday, coinciding with World Refugee Day, that those responsible for these incidents must be held accountable. We again call on Iran to respect human rights and stop violence against refugees.

The President of Afghanistan had appointed a ten-member delegation on April 9 to assess reports related to the drowning of Afghan migrants in a river on the Iran-Afghanistan border.

The Dari service of Voice of America reported, citing a group of Afghan citizens in Herat province, that Iranian border guards threw 50 Afghan citizens into the Harirod River after torture.

Following these reports, Alice G. Wells, Acting Deputy Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, called the cruel treatment that Iran has been accused of against Afghan migrants horrific and demanded an investigation into these allegations.

Source: Voice of America