Iran’s interior minister, Iskandar Momeni, says an estimated six million Afghan migrants are currently living in the country. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he said Iranian authorities have deported 1.5 million Afghans so far.

According to Iranian media, Momeni told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting that border security remained stable and that overall national security indicators had improved compared with last year. He said Iran was not “anti-migrant” but argued that the country’s resources were insufficient to support larger numbers.

Momeni said in September that Iran planned to deport around two million additional Afghan migrants by the end of the current solar year.

Human rights groups and accounts from local sources and eyewitnesses indicate that the Islamic Republic has expelled tens of thousands of Afghan migrants without due legal process, often using threats, beatings and forced transfers to detention camps before returning them to Afghanistan.

UN experts warn that returning migrants face severe challenges in Afghanistan, including lack of access to education, a deepening humanitarian crisis, acute food shortages and rapidly deteriorating living conditions.