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Behzad Moradipour made the remarks in the meeting of the Almaty Process Experts Group which was held on Wednesday, November 29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Representatives from eight states were participating in the event.

Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Turkmenistan are currently members of the Almaty process. Iran and Pakistan attended the meeting as observers.

Moradipour, who represented Iran in this meeting, highlighted that the country has been directly affected by the consequences of the massive influx of millions of refugees and foreigners for more than four decades.

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has made a very generous effort to provide services to millions of refugees and foreign nationals despite difficult living conditions and oppressive economic sanctions imposed on the country, he said.

He emphasized the need for providing accurate information and data governance in the management of refugees and immigrants.

During the meeting, the eight officials discussed issues related to immigrants in the host countries, enhancing regional cooperation, and coordinating activities in the field of migration, as well as sharing experiences on managing and improving the quality of data.

Almaty Process

The Almaty Process is a regional consultative process on refugee protection and international migration to, from, and within Central Asia.

The Almaty Process aims to address the multiple challenges resulting from mixed migration dynamics and to enhance regional cooperation and coordination on mixed migration.

It aims to promote dialogue on international migration and refugee protection, and the implementation of a coherent, integrated, and differentiated policy on people on the move and develop mechanisms for monitoring and resolving issues related to irregular migration.

It seeks to develop an action plan within the framework of the project aimed at strengthening the capacity of States to manage migration and ensure the protection of refugees.

IOM to share Iran’s experience with other nations

On November 26, the chairman of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Pir-Hossein Kolivand, said IRCS is ready to cooperate with other nations and share its experiences in providing services to refugees and immigrants.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Lalini Veerassamy, the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA reported.

Kolivand stressed that all these are done without any expectations, merely out of a humanitarian perspective. While other countries, receiving substantial funds from international organizations to help refugees, fail to provide the same services.

Appreciating the services provided to Afghan refugees, Veerassamy stated Iran hosts millions of immigrants and refugees.

Although managing and organizing these foreign nationals is very difficult, the immigrants are well-treated in Iran.

She added that the International Organization of Migration will help the IRCS because of common objectives. “We will try to alleviate the sufferings and hardships of the refugees through favorable cooperation.”

“We will make efforts to introduce Iran’s exceptional services to refugees to the world and introduce Iran as a leading and successful country in managing immigrants,” Veerassamy concluded.

Official statistics say around five million Afghan nationals live in Iran, about one million of them live in Khorasan Razavi province, mostly in the capital city of Mashhad.

For over four decades, Iran has been hosting one of the largest and most protracted refugee situations in the world and has provided asylum to refugees, mostly from Afghanistan.

The recent fast-paced turn of events in Afghanistan has the potential to create additional population movements; internally displacing families and potentially driving them to neighboring countries to seek refuge.

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Their insurance contract will be renewed every year in the month of Esfand – the last Iranian calendar month ending on March 19, Fars quoted Jamshid Shayanfar, an official with the Health Insurance Organization of Iran, as saying.

He added, “The insurance premiums for these people are covered by the High Commissioner for Refugees, and the insurance premiums for about 60,000 citizens are paid to the health insurance organization based on the government budget.”

Shayanfar went on to say that around 800,000 non-vulnerable nationals also have to pay their own insurance premiums; once they pay the insurance premium, they will enjoy health insurance services for a year.

Some 12,000 non-vulnerable nationals have already been covered by health insurance, he concluded.

Insurance services for foreign nationals

Foreign nationals in Iran have citizenship rights and are subject to many protections, and one of the services provided to them is insurance.

In recent years, the number of insured foreign nationals has increased by 15 percent. Most of the insured are nationals of Afghanistan and China.

The long-term protections granted to insured persons include the retirement pension and the work-related disability pension.

Paying compensation for sick days, paying compensation for pregnancy, paying compensation for disability, and paying allowances are among other insurance services.

Foreign nationals who work in Iranian sports clubs as head coaches, trainers, assistant coaches, athletes, players, etc., are subject to compulsory insurance.

Also, foreign journalists in Iran can be covered by social security services without obtaining a work permit by submitting a confirmation from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

According to the law, people who have worked in hard and harmful jobs for at least 20 consecutive years and 25 alternate years can apply for a pension without an age requirement.

Male insured with at least 60 years of age and 10 years of insurance premium payment, or at least 50 years of age and 30 years of insurance premium payment, and female insured with at least 55 years of age and 10 years of insurance premium payment, or at least 45 years of age and 30 years of insurance premium payment can apply for a pension.

Up to 2,188 foreign nationals residing in Iran are currently receiving pensions from social security funds, ISNA reported.

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Making investments in programs and services to better care for and support children affected by migration and asylum will reduce costs in the future, he added.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Ali Kazemi, the deputy justice minister, IRNA reported.

Emphasizing the important role of non-governmental organizations in supporting refugee and immigrant children and teenagers, Nandy expressed hope that holding educational workshops will lead to the promotion of children’s rights and justice for children.

Kazemi, for his part, said some 63 percent of Afghan refugees have selected Iran as their destination and the government does its best to settle the refugees with dignity.

The situation of non-Iranian children and adolescents and their families who have sought refuge in the Islamic Republic of Iran due to migration or injuries caused by unforeseen events and natural disasters or issues such as war has always been of concern to Iran, IRNa quoted Kazemi as saying.

It is expected that international organizations and other countries will also provide more assistance in this field in line with their humanitarian responsibilities and duties arising from human rights conventions, he added.

The Law on the protection of children and adolescents considers protection as the right of all people under the age of 18 who live within the borders of the Islamic Republic, Kazemi highlighted.

“According to the law, equal and non-discriminatory treatment in terms of color, race, religion, language, health, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and family status is the right of every child living in Iran.

The indisputable principle that governs all measures related to children and various legal protections have been considered for non-Iranian children and adolescents.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran is currently host to one of the largest and most protracted refugee populations in the world, the majority of whom are Afghan refugees.

The country is home to over 800,000 registered refugees and some 2.6 million undocumented Afghans. Today, more than 500,000 Afghan children- including undocumented Afghans and those who have newly arrived in Iran following the Taliban-takeover-are benefitting from Iran’s inclusive education policies, one of the most progressive in the world.

Many of the refugees living in Iran are second and third-generation, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Iran has spent more than $352 million in the current school year that started on September 23 on the education of Afghan students.

Over 670,000 students of Afghan nationals are studying in Iran, and the cost of educating these students is more than $352 million, IRNA reported.

In the current school year, $17 million of international aid and $335.631 million dollars from internal sources have been spent on the education of Afghan nationals.

However, international organizations have paid less than 3.9 percent of the cost of education for Afghan students in Iran in the last two years.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a decree in May 2015 that allows all foreign nationals, even those who have no identification and are living in Iran illegally, to attend schools in the country.

Relying on moral and Islamic principles, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has created equal conditions in benefiting from educational opportunities for Afghan students.

In the previous school year, some 556,000 Afghan students studied in Iranian schools.

Afghan students are currently studying in 6,000 schools across Iran, of which 88 schools are being built with the participation of international organizations.

The literacy rate among refugees has increased significantly in recent decades. So that the literacy rate of Afghan immigrants in Iran is higher than the number of literate people in Afghanistan, according to a report published in June 2022 by the research center of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis).

Iran is among the 15 successful countries in attracting international university students, according to Mohammad Javad Salmanpour, the deputy head of the Organization for Student Affairs.

The education of foreign students in Iran has grown significantly compared to previous years, even last year, it has doubled, he said.

Iran has the ability and capacity to have more than 250,000 foreign students by 2026, he stated.

Ivo Freijsen, Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Iran, has said Iran is an exemplary country that has acted very well in hosting refugees and has been hosting them for a long time.

Forty years have passed since Iran started hosting them [refugees]. As we have always said, Iran has had positive approaches toward refugees, we appreciate that, and we are honored to support Iran’s efforts, he said in an exclusive interview with Iran Newspaper published on September 4, 2022.

In fact, Iran provides wide-ranging services for refugees such as basic healthcare services, education, and vocational training.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, those who were in Iran, whether the ones that had passports or the ones that had documentation and were [registered] refugees, received the vaccination.

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“I believe that the world should know what Iran is doing for the people of Afghanistan and should know that all these services are based on humanitarian principles that the international organization encourages,” she added.

“I thank you for this responsibility and the actions and services you have provided to Afghan immigrants in this country over the decades.”

She made the remarks in a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Iran Kazutoshi Aikawa that was held in the city of Kerman in the presence of Governor General Mohammad-Mehdi Fadakar.

“We try to increase our support in this field. Of course, the support of international organizations is needed to provide better services.”

“The International Organization for Migration has a broad presence in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey and we hope to provide the same services in Iran with the support of the Iranian government,” she stressed.

Iran is home to over 800,000 registered refugees and some 2.6 million undocumented Afghans.

Many of the refugees living in Iran are second and third-generation, according to the UNHCR.

In October 2022, the Iranian delegation at the 73rd meeting of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner for Refugees said with the continued allocation of insufficient international aid, it is very difficult and almost impossible for the Islamic Republic to continue providing services to refugees and unauthorized foreign nationals.

Despite the cruel and unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran has so far hosted a large number of refugees beyond its fair share.

Several decades of hosting refugees as well as undocumented Afghan citizens have created huge economic and social costs for Iran.

For this long time, the Islamic Republic has pursued this mission despite numerous economic and social problems caused by regional crises as well as illegal and unfair sanctions, along with insufficient international aid and mainly using limited domestic resources.

It is appropriate to increase international aid to accommodate foreign citizens in the country and not to be forgotten when new crises arise.

Filippo Grandi, the High Commissioner for Refugees, while thanking Iran for its long-term measures in supporting Afghan refugees, stressed the need to increase international support for Iran and implement sustainable solutions, including the voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons.

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has praised Iran’s generosity which – for decades – has hosted millions of Afghans in need.

I will never forget the generosity of countries like Pakistan and Iran, which – for decades – have hosted millions of Afghans in need,” Guterres said in a statement released on January 26 to the Security Council on Afghanistan.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – Campaigners have slammed U.S. politicians following the grisly discovery of 51 dead asylum seekers and at least a dozen others who required hospital treatment after being found inside an abandoned trailer on a remote road in San Antonia, Texas on Monday.

The deceased include 39 men and 12 women while four minors were among those needing hospital treatment for heat stroke and exhaustion.

At least 27 Mexicans, three Guatemalans, and four Hondurans are believed to be among the dead, according to politicians from all three countries.

Officials from both sides of the border are working to identify the nationalities of the remaining refugees that were found dead.

According to local and federal officials briefed on an investigation, the truck may have been carrying around 100 asylum seekers, but the exact number remains unclear. The vehicle had been left parked beside railroad tracks as temperatures soared to as high as 40 degrees celsius.

Reports have cited San Antonio’s police chief as saying an individual working in a nearby building went outside to check after hearing a cry for help, found the trailer door partially open, and saw bodies inside.

Speaking to reporters, fire chief Charles Hood said those transferred to the hospital were hot to touch and dehydrated while there was no water or air conditioning system found in the trailer. “We’re not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there,” Hood said. “None of us come to work imagining that.”

The discovery is the deadliest tragedy among the thousands of refugees who have died trying to cross the U.S. southern border from Mexico over the past several decades.

Politicians especially Texas Governor Greg Abbott and U.S. President Joe Biden have been quick to exchange blame for the deadly incident.

Laura Pena, the Director of Beyond Borders program at Texas Civil Rights Project, has accused both political leaders of being at fault and having “utterly failed” the dead refugees.

She says President Biden’s continued implementation of his predecessor Donald Trump’s immigration policies including – Title 42 – which allows officials at the border to block the path of asylum seekers because of the COVID-19 pandemic is to blame. Also Abbott’s “Operation Lone Star”, an initiative that ordered National Guard Forces to be stationed at the southern border is to blame.

The activist says both policies have made the circumstances more dangerous for refugees seeking to enter the U.S. Pena says “when migrants can’t cross ports of entry they’re forced to take more dangerous routes.

“This leads to what happened in San Antonio where people’s only option is to be locked in a trailer…  as if they’re not even human, instead of receiving a dignified, humane process at the border.”

“[Biden and Abbot] have utterly failed people who are seeking safety by crossing the border… the closure of borders are forcing people to take more dangerous routes. That’s just the facts. It’s resulted in thousands of deaths across the border… and it’s a direct result of these efforts to harden the border and criminalize people,” she noted, “instead of investing in processing – simple processing of people who are trying to seek asylum and refuge at our ports of entry at our borders.”

The simple processing of asylum seekers that Pena was referring to is being enjoyed by the more than 3,000 Ukrainian refugees allowed to enter the same U.S. southern border with Mexico and allowed to be granted asylum.

“We’ve been advocating for a dignified, humane process at the border, where people are not forced to risk their lives. We’ve seen the ability of the federal government to do that. We saw all the resources come to bear for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, rapid humane processing at the border. But when it comes to Black and brown migrants, those same benefits are completely stripped away. They are not afforded across the board. It’s the underlying racism, and how and where both the federal and the state governments choose to militarize,” Pena said.

She also pointed out that “If putting your life, not just as risk, but affirmatively packing yourself into a container is a better option than remaining in a dangerous situation in which you are currently in, it really speaks volumes of those situations,”

Spokespeople for Biden and Abbott have not immediately responded to requests for comment.

Other campaigners also saw a direct link between the disaster and the Biden administration’s border policies. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said he had been dreading such a tragedy for months. “With the border shut as tightly as it is today for migrants… people have been pushed into more and more dangerous routes. Truck smuggling is a way up,” he wrote on social media.

The San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services provides legal assistance to those seeking asylum in the U.S.; Miriam Camero, the organization’s Vice President of social programs, says the lives lost are a result of a “failure at all levels.”

“They clearly lack a moral compass and they use every opportunity to amplify the complete wrong agenda and education for our community,” she said of the politicians’ response.

“These are not numbers, these are not headlines, these are actually human beings that were trying to seek a better life in the United States,” Camero said.

According to Camero, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services dispatched attorneys to the scene, where bodies were being recovered and survivors sent for medical assistance, but they were unable to make contact with any of those who survived.

“We will not stop until we get to access and we’re able to at least show what options and resources and support these victims do have as well as their family members,” Camero declared.

A memorial vigil honoring those lost in Monday’s incident has also been held. Jessica Azua, a community organizer, told the crowd “I’m so tired that we have been here before, that we have done this before. It shouldn’t be this way,” Last year, the number of refugee deaths was 650, the highest annual death toll since 2014.

The number is a shocking reminder of the human costs because of U.S. immigration policies, which strictly limit the number of refugees able to seek asylum despite being allowed to seek asylum at the point of the refugees’ destination being a right enshrined in international law.

Advocates say because of that; refugees have resorted to extremely dangerous conditions and risk their lives in the hope of making the journey across the U.S. border with Mexico.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has warned that unless immigration policy changes are made “it will enshrine a new legacy for the United States – a legacy of turning its back on international commitments and sending people directly into harm’s way.”

Despite Monday’s disturbing discovery being the deadliest tragedy involving refugees, it is not the first of its kind in San Antonio. In 2017, ten people traveling by tractor-trailer died after going without water, food, or fresh air.

Also in Texas last year, ten refugees traveling by van died after crashing into a pole. In Houston, six migrants died in an SUV after being chased by police through rainy weather in 2019.

Advocates have long said that those cases are an example of the risks and dangers that refugees are being forced to take to seek asylum in the United States.

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“Global refugee compact is an effort by all 193 members of the United Nations to design to protect those who are forced to flee and support the countries that shelter them more predictably and more equitably,” the High Commissioner explained.

In 2016’s historic New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, all 193 Member States of the United Nations agreed that protecting those who are forced to flee and supporting the countries that shelter them are shared international responsibilities that must be borne more equitably and predictably.

The Declaration gave UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the task of building upon the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), to develop a ‘global compact on refugees’. UNHCR has been engaged in consultations with governments and other stakeholders to develop the compact, and the High Commissioner will propose the text of the global compact on refugees in his 2018 annual report to the General Assembly.

The global compact on refugees is a unique opportunity to strengthen the international response to large movements of refugees and protracted refugee situations. Its four key objectives are to ease the pressures on host countries; enhance refugee self-reliance; expand access to third-country solutions; and support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.

“For instance Iran has hosted Afghan refugees for many decades, almost 40 years, and it’s a longstanding issue in Iran. Iran has done tremendous work and has our full admiration, so in this case one would say why can’t international community support Iran more?”, Türk said, adding that in a way that’s what the global refugee compact about. To ensure that it mobilizes support for protracted refugee situation but also provide support conditions in countries of origin who are dealing with a large-scale crisis [for return of the refugees].

The Assistant High Commissioner for Protection went on to say that “We are the biggest UN operation in Iran, and also we have offices all around the country because we want to be close to the Afghan refugees but also to work closely with the Iranian authorities. We know we have always tried hard to ensure that we mobilize support and we and we have a lot of discussions with some of our donor countries so that we can provide more [financial] support, so our duty is to mobilize more support for the refugees but also for the host countries which is Iran.”

Inquired about the Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan which the UN would host with the Afghan Government in Geneva on November 28, Türk highlighted that the conference will focus on the Afghan situation in Afghanistan, “but also because we have millions of Afghans refugees living in Pakistan and Iran, so we want to use this as an opportunity to make aware the international community that we need to work on solutions for Afghanistan, meaning support peace process, conflict resolution and development in Afghanistan, but in the meantime we need to invest on the refugees outside so that countries like Iran are supported. So we use this opportunity to mobilize support for refugees and for Iran.”
Elsewhere in his remarks he noted that t United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, will visit Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, to highlight how important it is not to forget the Afghan situation and the impact of refugees in Iran and Pakistan.

Türk is the UN’s leading expert on international protection and his two-day visit to Tehran was meant to reaffirm UNHCR’s commitment to continue its strong partnership with the Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the world’s largest refugee hosting country.

Türk met with high ranking officials, refugee representatives, diplomatic community and partner humanitarian agencies.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has remained an important global partner on refugee protection, currently hosting around a million refugees from Afghanistan for nearly four decades.

UNHCR in Iran

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.

UNHCR opened its first office in Iran in 1984 and expanded its presence in response to the influx of Iraqi refugees arising from the Gulf War in 1991, and the start of Afghans’ mass return movement to Afghanistan in 1992.

The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to host one of the largest and most protracted refugee populations of the world, and has provided asylum to refugees for nearly four decades. The majority of refugees in Iran are Afghan refugees. There are an estimated 3.5 million Afghans residing in Iran, inclusive of registered refugees, passport holders and undocumented Afghans; since many arrived around 35 years ago, a large number are second or third generation Afghans living in Iran.

Approximately 97% live in urban and semi-urban areas, while the remaining 3% reside in 20 refugee settlements which are managed by UNHCR’s main government counterpart the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs (BAFIA) of the Ministry of Interior.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for refugee registration and status determination, as well as the issuing of refugee identity cards known as Amayesh cards. These require renewal on a regular basis and enable refugees to access basic services as well as access to work permits.

Voluntary repatriation continues under the auspices of tripartite agreements signed by UNHCR and the governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan. However, voluntary return has been witnessing a steady decline in recent years, largely due to continued instability in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2016, 2,426 individuals wishing to return to their country of origin were assisted by the Government of Iran and UNHCR. From 2002 to end 2016, UNHCR assisted 979,410 refugees (925,235 Afghans and 30,662 Iraqis) to voluntarily return to their homeland.

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