UNHCR Official Praises Refugee Hosting Countries, Like Iran

Mashhad, June 18, IRNA – Head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Sub-Office in Mashhad hare Tuesday evening praised the host countries of the world refugees, such as Iran. Toshitsuki Kawauchi who was speaking in a ceremony making the International Refugee Day added: I, as the representative of the UNHCR, praise the generosity and kindheartedness of the countries that are hosting the refugees and present services to these people who have been forced to leave their homes and their countries. “The International Refugee Day provides an opportunity to gather together and present our viewpoints in this respect and for the global society to get acquainted with the hardships of the hostages who have been forced to abandon their motherlands,” he said. Managing Director of Khorassan Province Governorate’s Foreign Citizens and Immigrants Affairs, too, said at the ceremony that for the first time in the world the refugees in Iran are receiving insurance services. Mohammad Ajami said that such services are offered by issuing health service cards in collaboration with Asia Insurance Company and the UNHCR. “Out of 35 million forcefully displaced refugees in the world who are experiencing living outside their own national borders some 1.5 million of them have been registered in Iran,” he said. Ajami stressed that of course the number of foreign citizens living as refugees in Iran is a lot more than that number, but those 1.5 million are the legally registered refugees residing here. “Iran is the second hostage accepting country and the largest of them that hosted them under the tough war and sanction conditions and welcomed them for humanitarian reasons and observing religious teachings,” he said. “The refugees in Iran, most of whom are from Afghanistan and Iraq, live peaceful lives side by side with the Iranian nation and use the cultural and educational centers in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran pays special attention to their needs, their capabilities and their talents,” he added. According to the UNHCR 2014 Overview: • The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to host one of the largest and most protracted refugee populations in the world, despite the voluntary return of hundreds of thousands Afghan and Iraqi refugees to their countries of origin over the past decade. According to the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrantsˈ Affairs (BAFIA), as of October 2011, the number of refugees registered with the authorities stood at over 882,000 (over 840,000 Afghans and some 42,000 Iraqis). • In the Islamic Republic of Iran, 97 per cent of all refugees are living in urban and semi-urban areas. Between January 2002 and July 2013, UNHCR assisted over 913,000 Afghans to return home voluntarily, and almost 30,000 Iraqi refugees have also been assisted to repatriate voluntarily since 2003. However, the number of people who have returned in 2013 remains low in comparison with previous years, and the assistance programme will need to continue./end