Iranian police have arrested 249 Afghan illegal immigrants crammed in two vehicles heading from eastern borders for Tehran, police source said Tuesday.
The sources told the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) that the Afghans had jumped the eastern borders into Sistan-Baluchistan province.
The two vehicles were stuffed with 134 and 115 Afghans.
The great number of Afghans living in Iran is commonly cited as one of the reasons contributing to the high rate of unemployment and drug abuse in the country.
Some 1.4 million Afghans still remain in Iran, half of them illegal residents, according to official government reports, cited by the agency.
An Iranian government official has said recently that about 500 Afghans manage to jump the border to Iran daily through Sistan Baluchistan border.
Iran and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reached an agreement in April for the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees – Albawaba.com
