Iran spares no effort to host Afghan migrants: Envoy

Tehran, IRNA – An Iranian representative has urged the international community not to forget long-term woes such as Afghan refugees’ problems in Iran that is providing the migrants with services despite being under unilateral and cruel sanctions. Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Iran to United Nation and other international organizations in Geneva Ali Bahreini said on Friday that the current situation in Afghanistan indicates very well that ambitious policies of wealthy states and their military interventions in other countries have caused serious problems for the lives of migrants in their homelands and the host nations. Over the last 40 years, the Islamic Republic has spared no efforts to provide Afghan migrants with services despite the fact that the Islamic nation has been under unilateral and illegal sanctions, so the international community is expected to avoid new crises overshadowing the old situation of the Afghan migrants, he warned. More than 700k Afghan pupils have been enrolled at Iranian schools, while 380k out of the number do not have identification documents, the ambassador said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General António Vitorino said that the organization has always lauded the Iranians’ hospitality when it came to migrants, noting that it has made efforts for recent years to increase the budget for the Afghan refugees and assist host countries such as Iran. The 113th Session of the IOM Council was held with the participation of high-ranking officials and representatives from member states in Geneva from November 29 to December 2. The Islamic Republic of Iran joined the International Organization for Migration as an observer in 1995 and it was accepted as a full member in IOM's Governors' Council in 2001. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish