US Deputy Secretary of State: We call on Iran to stop violence against refugees

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

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

On May 9, the Afghan President appointed a ten-member delegation to assess reports of Afghan migrants drowning in a river on the Iran-Afghanistan border.

The Dari section of the Voice of America, citing a group of Afghan citizens in Herat province, reported that Iranian border guards had thrown 50 Afghan citizens into the Harirud River after torturing them.

Following these reports, Alice J. Wells, acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, called Iran's alleged brutal treatment of Afghan migrants appalling and called for an investigation into the allegations.

Source: Voice of America