Iran: May 27, 2003

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 The government continues to deal with a major security problem; foreign refugees. Since late 2001, 500,000  Afghan refugees have been sent back to Afghanistan. About 100,000 of the Afghans tried to get back into Iran, but were expelled. Life was easier in Iran, because there was rule of law. The warlords, drug gangs and bandits in western Afghanistan make for a precarious life. Now some 200,000 Iraqi refugees are being sent home. While the Afghan refugee camps were a breeding ground for criminal gangs, the Iraqi refugees, mostly Shia Arabs from southern Iraq, were more like model citizens.