500,000 Afghan refugees have fled to Iran this year

At the end of his three-day visit to Iran, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called for increased assistance from the international community to the Iranian government and people to accept refugees fleeing Afghanistan due to the deteriorating situation in that country.

Initial estimates by the Iranian government indicate that about 500,000 Afghan citizens entered the country in 2021.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced in a statement on Tuesday, December 20, that Filippo Grandi met and discussed with the Iranian Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Health during his visit to Tehran, and the main topic of the discussions was how to provide assistance and organize the needs of refugees who have recently arrived in Iran from Afghanistan.

In these meetings, Mr. Grandi emphasized the need to register and grant some kind of residency documents to these individuals, and called on the Iranian government to pay attention to the importance of protecting refugees and the danger they will face if they return to Afghanistan.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees also met with a number of refugee families who fled Nimroz province to Iran about four months ago during a trip to Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Mr. Grandi said that during these meetings, the refugees shared with him the hardships and suffering that had led them to flee Afghanistan. Young women and girls expressed their frustration at having to leave education and work, and said that they had no hope for their future and that of other Afghan women.

In another part of his trip to Sistan and Baluchestan, Mr. Grandi visited facilities under construction for the temporary settlement of a group of refugees 14 kilometers east of Zabol and examined their urgent needs, including the issue of registration and temporary residence in Iran.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also in talks with the Iranian government regarding the possibility of settling some Afghan refugees in urban areas.

Filippo Grandi said: "The Iranian government has been a generous host to large numbers of Afghan refugees for decades, despite severe economic difficulties and the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. However, given the worsening situation in Afghanistan, it is essential to ensure the safety and immediate needs of those coming to Iran."

He added: "The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has increased its efforts to assist Afghan refugees this year, and in cooperation with the Iranian government, we will strive to ensure that the burden of hosting and assisting refugees does not fall solely on the shoulders of this country. We call on the international community to increase its assistance to public services, especially the health and education sectors of Iran, and to donate more vaccines to Iran for the equal and fair vaccination of residents of border provinces and Afghan refugees."

Another goal of UNHCR is to assist Afghan students in higher education in Iran while also assisting the return of those refugees who wish to return to Afghanistan.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) concluded its press release by recalling that Iran is one of the countries in the world that hosts the largest number of refugees and has hosted several million Afghan refugees and migrants over the past four decades. Most of these refugees have benefited from the country's public services, such as health and education, and live and work alongside the Iranian people in cities and villages.

Although the main goal of resolving the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is to respond to existing challenges in the field of humanitarian assistance, economic improvement, and national development of the country, assisting the countries hosting refugees to meet their needs in various areas is also a priority.

Source: Radio Farda