Afghan refugees report Iranian harassment

Refugees returning from Iran to the city of Herat in western Afghanistan say Iranian soldiers and officials harassed them on the way.

Many of those arriving at UN reception centres say they used their entire savings to pay bribes on the two-day journey from Tehran.

Of some two million Afghans who fled to Iran to escape war and drought, about forty-thousand have returned under a UN aid programme.

Many impoverished subsistence farmers who went to Herat from the drought-stricken northern provinces are also reported to be heading home, as spring rains have led them to hope for the first reasonable harvest in several years.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service