Afghanistan: According to analysts cited by threNew York Times, more than a million Afghans migrated to Iran between October 2021 and the end of January 2022 as the war-torn country's economy crumbled. According to the study, relief organisations estimate that 4,000 to 5,000 individuals cross into Iran each day.
Though many people are fleeing because of the immediate economic hardship, the threat of long-term Taliban rule, with its restrictions on women and concerns of retaliation, has only heightened their desperation.
"The number of persons leaving Afghanistan by this route is increasing at an exponential rate, especially given how difficult this journey is in the winter months," said David Mansfield, an Afghan migration researcher. According to his estimations, up to four times as many Afghans left Afghanistan for Pakistan and then Iran each day in January compared to the same period the previous year, according to the report.
The migration has sparked fears across the region and in Europe, where lawmakers fear a repetition of the 2015 migrant crisis, which saw over a million people, largely Syrians, seek asylum in Europe, sparking a populist backlash. Many fear that as the weather warms and the snow-covered routes become easier to travel, a flood of Afghans may flood the European Union's borders in spring.
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