Most of the support and care for Afghan refugees is now on Iran and its neighboring countries, Freijsen said, adding, reducing the support of international organizations to address the needs of Afghan refugees living in Iran should be referred to UN member states for necessary decisions, IRNA reported.

However, part of the international assistance to Afghan refugees has been provided in the past, so that some of the migrants have been resettled in urban structures, and another part is related to the new period of migration from this country.

To this end, one center has now been set up to house Afghan refugees in Sistan-Baluchestan and two in Khorasan Razavi province, he stated.

Freijsen traveled to Mashhad on Monday with five other heads of international organizations to address the latest situation of Afghan refugees.

The number of Afghan citizens with residence permits in Khorasan Razavi is 350,000, 96 percent of whom live in Mashhad city.

Due to the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and the possibility of a new wave of refugees, the Islamic Republic will not be able to accept newcomers due to existing restrictions and lack of necessary facilities, he lamented.

In 2021 alone, UNHCR is directly aware of some 18,000 Afghans who newly arrived in Iran using irregular routes, although the total number that has entered the country is likely to be significantly higher. Since the beginning of the year, over 660,000 persons were newly displaced within Afghanistan itself.

Iran hosting world’s fourth-largest refugee community

Iran is hosting the world’s fourth-largest refugee community. The country has generously hosted approximately 1 million refugees for the past 30 years. The majority, which mainly came from Afghanistan and Iraq, live in urban areas. Approximately 31,000 of the most vulnerable refugees live in 20 settlements located throughout the country.

Based on the latest statistics, over 3 million Afghans are living in Iran – some 780,000 Afghan refugees, over 2 million undocumented Afghans, and another 600,000 Afghan passport-holders with Iranian visas.

However, in light of the pandemic, all refugees, even those undocumented, benefited from access to free primary health services and free COVID-19 related testing, treatment, and hospitalization, just like Iranian nationals.

The same happened for the vaccination when the country has generously considered refugees over the age of 75 for vaccination against coronavirus.

In order to support the refugees living in the country, the seventh phase of the health insurance plan will cover 120,000 vulnerable refugees through a memorandum of understanding signed between the Health Insurance Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In Iran, UNHCR is seeking $16.2 million for its COVID-19 emergency, while requires an additional $98.7 million to support Iran in maintaining and sustaining its commendable inclusive refugee policies, under the umbrella of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR).

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MAHAK is an NGO that supports services for cancer-stricken children and their families in accordance with international standards, as a result, over 35,000 children with cancer have benefited from it during the past 30 years.

During the 30 years of work, the charity foundation has supported 2,438 refugee children in different parts of Iran.

Most of the refugees who refer to and get supported by MAHAK are from Afghanistan and the rest are from Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, Sharif Nezam Mafi, the CEO of MAHAK said.

Currently, children with cancer and their families in all public and university hospitals with pediatric hematology and oncology wards in 18 cities of Iran receive support services, he noted.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) which is also known as blood cancer is one of the most common cancers in children and if diagnosed early, its cure rate will increase significantly. The registered cases at MAHAK also indicate that blood cancer variation is the most frequent cancer among refugee children, as well.

The children and their families who have to travel far from their residences in order to receive proper treatment also receive full MAHAK coverage for travel and accommodation services similar to Iranian nationals.

Based on a memorandum of understanding signed in 2001, a part of treatment and support services expenses are covered by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

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