Refugees in Iran receive health and education services: UNHCR office

TEHRAN,Dec.17 (MNA) – The representative of the UNHCR office in Tehran said “refugees in Iran receive their basic needs such as health services and education.” He made the remarks on the sidelines of a workshop arranged on Thursday to brief journalists on who is considered a “refugee” and what entails this term. The workshop was co-hosted by the UNHCR office in Tehran and Iran’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants' Affairs (BAFIA). According to statistics, about 287,000 student refugees were studying in Iranian schools in the Iranian academic year (2010-2011). The figure was expected to increase by about 10 to 15 percent in the current Iranian academic year (2011-2012). Mohammad Tahavori, the BAFIA director, said refugee students enjoy the same educational services as Iranian students. In addition, over the past three decades about 657,000 Afghan and Iraqi refugees have received education through classes organized by Iran’s “adult literacy movement”. According to BAFIA, more than 7000 refugee students are also studying at Iranian universities.