Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations at the next UN Security Council meeting on (a) allegations that (i) a number of Afghan refugees were killed in a recent car fire started by Iranian officers shooting at the vehicle and (ii) others were drowned after being forced into a river at gunpoint and (b) other reports of mistreatment of those refugees by the Iranian authorities.

The UK is concerned by the troubling, reported incidents involving Afghan refugees in May and June. Our Embassies in Tehran and Kabul have discussed our concerns regarding Afghan migrants in in Iran with their respective host governments, and we continue to monitor the situation on the Afghanistan-Iran border closely.

We welcome the joint statement issued on 22 June by the Foreign Ministers of the Governments of Iran and Afghanistan that called for both sides to take measures to prevent future incidents and enhance border security and management. We are in frequent contact with Iranian officials on issues involving Afghanistan, and raise the importance of supporting vulnerable refugee communities. We also raise this issue with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. At the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council on 26 June, the UK welcomed the renewal of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.