Kolivand made the remarks on Saturday 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.

Stating that the IRCS continues supporting and implementing activities in favor of refugees, he added, “Today, international institutions have a political attitude towards refugees and immigrants, and a fair approach has not been adopted in this regard yet.”

The officials discussed the international challenges regarding refugees in this meeting, “Despite all these issues, Iran, particularly the IRCS, is trying to provide the best services to refugees and immigrants. A typical example is the services provided to Afghan refugees,” Kolivand said.

He went on to say, “Today, Afghan refugees are provided with the same services as Iranian citizens in health, treatment, social and cultural fields. Therefore, it can be said that the provided services to refugees in Iran are unparalleled in the world.”

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.

Despite the fact that 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.

Afghan nationals in Iran

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.

Iran 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 are benefitting from Iran’s inclusive education policies, one of the most progressive in the world.

Despite the sanctions and economic pressures, Iran continues its comprehensive policy of providing services to refugees, and this is appreciable, UNHCR’s Officer in Charge, Inna Gladkova, said in November 2022.

The best solution and the most stable support system for refugees is that have access to schools and education just like Iranian nationals, she stated, IRNA reported.

Iran has taken effective and continuous measures to include all refugees, and the UNHCR also declares its readiness to fulfill its obligations, she noted.

In May, Robin Nandy, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Iran, said the country’s comprehensive program for the protection of refugee children is encouraging.

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.

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.

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According to the report, the population of Iranian refugees living in the host countries has decreased from 143,000 in 2021 to 122,000 in 2022.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), put the population of Iranians seeking asylum in the world at 69,237 in 2022, which has increased compared to 68,940 last year.

Germany and Turkey were the two main destinations for registering Iranian asylum seekers in 2012 and 2017, while Britain and Germany were the top destinations in 2022.

According to UNHCR, the world had at least 108 million forced migrations and displacements in 2022. Turkey, Iran, Colombia, Germany, and Pakistan have respectively hosted the largest number of people in refugee status or similar status.

Refugees in Iran

Ivo Freijsen, the representative for UNHCR 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.

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.

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.

These students are studying in different fields of science, research and technology, health and medical education, and also in the fields of humanities, Islamic sciences, Persian language, and literature, law, fundamentals of Islamic law, management fields, economics, psychology, social sciences, as well as engineering, agricultural sciences, animal sciences, and basic sciences.

On June 20, UNHCR marked World Refugee Day with a series of events celebrating refugees’ resilience and courage and the country’s commendable inclusive policies towards refugees.

The occasion served as a reminder of the need for more global burden-sharing and solidarity in addressing the challenges faced by displaced persons around the world, according to the UNHCR website.

With over 3.4 million refugees and refugee-like populations, Iran has become the second-largest refugee-hosting country globally this year.

In total, Iran hosts some 4.5 million Afghans of varying status – including resident permit holders, undocumented Afghans, and family passport holders – many of whom have been in the country for an extended period and require support to strengthen their resilience.

Iran’s support for refugees is demonstrated through its inclusive policies, which encompass protection, assistance, education, and healthcare, inspiring the global community and positively impacting the lives of refugees.

Throughout Iran, a range of events were organized to commemorate this year’s World Refugee Day, under the theme “Hope Away from Home.”

The post Iranian refugees down by 14% in 2022: report appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The services provided to immigrants in Iran are not at all comparable to other countries of the world, including Europeans, and unfortunately, these services for immigrants are ignored, she added.

“As long as I am in Iran, I will take the issue of immigrants seriously, and we understand that the Islamic Republic alone bears 90 percent of the problems of immigrants.

We will do our best to allocate more resources to Iran and provide quality services to immigrants.”

“Although we have a small team in Iran, we have many capabilities to enter the field of crisis management and we want to reach a common solution on how to cooperate with the crisis management organization and exchange experiences and manage non-cash items,” she stressed.

Veerassamy went on to say that examining the situation of immigrants in Iran requires long and short-term multilateral cooperation.

Last year, 31 million people affected by natural disasters were covered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and this support will continue, she noted.

Some 70 percent of the Organization’s credits and budget are allocated to respond to crises and natural disasters, and stabilizing the conditions of the victims is another part of IOM’s responsibility, she highlighted.

In addition to crisis management and helping the victims, the Organization is also active in pre-crisis prevention, she concluded.

In April, Veerassamy said the world should know the services that are offered to refugees in Iran.

“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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European households are among victims of American-led actions that led to the military conflict in Ukraine. They are suffering from the ever-increasing inflation driven by the record costs of gas and oil.
In addition to the rent and mortgages for the roof over their heads, Europeans are also paying more for grocery, clothing, education, health and many other services. This would explain why protests have erupted across the continent in opposition to the U.S.-led NATO military alliance that triggered the devastating crisis in Eastern Europe.

But frustration is also growing that Ukrainian refugees are receiving financial help, free accommodation and many other benefits while ordinary Europeans must pay more.

For example, according to the British government, Ukrainian refugees can access Universal Credit (cash handouts) and jobs support immediately. They are also eligible for Housing Benefit, Pension Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Child Disability Living Allowance and an Allowance for carers, and Attendance Allowance. Contributions-based Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance, free translation services are also available.

The hypocrisy of course is that the wars on Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – led by the U.S., the UK and EU countries – triggered a flood of refugees who were entitled to little or zero services. They were barred food and accommodation to the extent that many of the refugees complained the situation was better in war zones at home. Ukrainian refugees can expect to receive upwards of €400 per month of cash handouts whereas Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees complained of receiving some €30 per month in financial assistance.
The growing social resilience towards Ukrainian immigrants among the middle class of European societies can be reflected in Germany where the country’s opposition leader Friedrich Merz recently accused Ukrainian refugees of taking advantage of the social welfare system by seeking protection in the country.

“What we’re seeing is welfare tourism on the part of these refugees to Germany, back to Ukraine, to Germany, back to Ukraine,” Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, told Bild TV in an interview, adding that “a large number” of the more than 1.1 million Ukrainian refugees registered in Germany were milking the state. “We have a problem here that’s getting worse.”

Merz pointed out that it was “unfair” for Berlin to pay for the heat in the homes of Ukrainian refugees while at the same time many working-class Germans simply cannot afford their energy bills. “It is unfair and the population is right to consider it unfair,” he said.
Germans are becoming more and more concerned about the impact of the Ukraine war on their country’s economy, in particular, the skyrocketing prices of gas. The Covid crisis and the West’s sanctions on the Russian energy sector means the price of oil and gas has in some European countries more than doubled, if not tripled.

Merz’s comments are a shift with his previous comments that backed the government’s support for Ukrainian refugees. His party, the Christian Democratic Union, has seen a growing lead in the polls.

Many municipalities in Germany have reportedly become completely overwhelmed with the accommodation and care for refugees from Ukraine, which hosts around one million. Two-thirds of these refugees are housed in private accommodation or have rented their own apartments, making it a heavy burden.

The cost of railway tickets for instance have also seen incredible hikes in some European countries. That has been met with the utmost anger of commuters. This is while train operators across Europe have been offering free rail transport to Ukrainians. Passengers with a Ukrainian passport or ID card are exempt from rail ticket charges in Poland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, France, Belgium, and Denmark.

After Russia, Poland is widely believed to host the most Ukrainian refugees, but the prolonging of the war with the fluid supply of Western weapons has taken a heavy toll on Warsaw. Poles say they no longer want to support Ukrainian refugees for free. Authorities who had helped the refugees free of charge by providing them with accommodation are now increasingly refusing such help.

Polish media have cited human rights ombudsman Marcin Vincek as warning that many refugees could end up homeless. Poles cannot continue to help because of the costs. Recently, their financial situation has often worsened due to high inflation and rising prices, as well as a significant increase in the cost of maintaining an apartment or residential building.

Since the outbreak of violence at the end of February, around seven million Ukrainians have arrived in Poland, of which 1.7 million are still residing there.

Now reports have emerged that frustration is growing among the Dutch who see Ukrainian refugees heating their homes free of charge while inflation in the Netherlands jumped in September to its highest in decades, driven by skyrocketing energy prices. That’s according to the statistics agency (CBS).

Holland’s consumer prices rose to 17.1% this month after August’s jump to 13.7% and energy prices in the euro zone’s fifth largest economy were 114% higher than in September 2021, while food prices jumped 10.5%.

Mass demonstrations and protests are now taking place in European countries, especially in Germany, France and the Czech Republic, in which people are demanding politicians to withdraw from NATO and end the war in Ukraine. Just days ago, thousands of protesters gathered in central Paris to call for an end to France’s membership of NATO.

Last month, an estimated 70,000 people demonstrated in the Czech capital Prague against their government, calling on the ruling coalition to do more to control soaring energy prices and voicing strong opposition to the European Union and NATO, while chanting slogans in support of Russia.

Protests are also growing against the shipments of arms to the warzones. They call for resumption of peace talks which were held temporarily in March between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. However, Western governments do not appear to be interested in ending this conflict, despite the massive toll it is taking on the public.

Experts say this will backfire against the position of these Western governments as they are beginning to lose power one by one with voters angry at the record inflation levels.

At the end of the day, Ukrainians and ethnic Russians have suffered the human costs of the war and the damage to their homes and infrastructure. However, as the war drags out, the mood is changing in Europe from one of sympathy towards Ukrainian refugees to what is turning out to be growing annoyance.

There is little the Europeans can afford in terms of living costs. The number of people falling into poverty is rising dramatically and the war in Ukraine is raging on.

As the European middle-class see Ukrainian refugees enjoying the benefits that they are deprived of, there is fear that anti-refugee sentiment emerge across the continent, and as history has shown the far right political parties use the issue for political gains.

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From long ago, the hospitality of Iranians has been well known. Since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, during these many years, Afghans have sought asylum in Iran and have started living here.

Now they love Iran like their own country. Their children study here and go to the university. They get married here and start families. The government and people of Iran have always done what they could to serve them with kindness.

The latest example to prove this statement is the vaccination campaign to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the refugees were vaccinated just like all the Iranian citizens. Providing access to higher education, employment opportunities, and healthcare through the Universal Public Health Insurance for refugees is all proof of the hospitality of us Iranians.

In an exclusive interview with Iran Newspaper published on September 4, Freijsen 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 [refugee]. As we have always said, Iran has had positive approaches toward refugees, we appreciate that, and we are honored to support Iran’s efforts.

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

We have always said that Iran has positive approaches toward refugees, and this is commendable and we are proud to support Iran’s initiatives.

We need to create a favorable environment for those people [refugees] who have recently entered the country or those who have been in Iran before.

This means that they should be able to stay in Iran and not be returned to their own country because Afghanistan is still not safe.

The main part of our work is to support the government to attend to the needs of refugees, we cooperate in the areas of registration, data collection, and provision of documents.

Moreover, as long as these people [refugees] are in the country, they need work. So, we should help them access the job market.

For this purpose, we assist both the government and the relevant organizations. We are also involved in the area of education for children and adolescents, and even adults.

We have vocational training programs so that refugees can first be trained and then start working.

Another focus is the area of health and medical care. We believe that healthy refugees are productive and resilient, refugees can both be helpful in Iran and be beneficial to their country when the situation improves, and they can return.

In short, I can say that three sectors are very important for us: access to aid, meeting basic needs, and livelihood, and we are always active in these areas and support the governments and organizations involved in them.

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

It is especially important to understand refugees. We should realize that these people, like us, have many positive potentials.

Refugees are not people who sit idle in a corner doing nothing. On the contrary, refugees want access to the job market, employment, and education, in order to help the societies in which they have sought refuge.

They want to be able to travel, have access to medical care, get married, start families, and in the end, when the situation allows it, return to their country.

These people probably have more hope and motivation than us. They only need to be well understood.

Many documents exist that show conflict to be the main reason for displacement [of people] either within countries or outside, and this is an obvious fact that is not unknown. What is new is that conflict has been combined with other elements—for example, climate change or lack of natural resources such as water.

These elements have been combined together like a chain which has increased negative impact on people. In the end, people are forced to move and leave their countries. Small solutions are not enough to overcome these crises, and we should look for constructive solutions to resolve these issues. When the situation is not good, it is not strange that a person would enter Iran from another country or seek asylum in other countries.

It is very natural: if I or you were living in an unfavorable situation, we would do the same. If you were a farmer and had no land to farm or no water, or your rights are violated in your own country, you would be forced to migrate. Our humanitarian support is not the main solution but only temporary relief. The main solution is peace, tranquility, development, and access to human rights. All world leaders are aware of this and should only start acting according to it.

According to the data from the government, as of October 2022, Iran hosts 800,000 registered refugees (Amayesh cardholders). Of this number, approximately 780,000 are Afghan, and about 20,000 are Iraqi refugees.

Also, around 586,000 Afghans possess passports and Iranian visas, including those who had Amayesh cards before and later received student visas to continue their university education.

Of course, approximately 2.1 million Afghans live in the country without documentation.

President Ebrahim Raisi has said despite the fact that the Europeans have made many claims about supporting the Afghans, but have not provided them with any assistance, contrary to their comments, today more than four million Afghans are guests of the Islamic Republic.

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 generously considered refugees for vaccination against coronavirus.

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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World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honor refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.

World Refugee Day was held globally for the first time on June 20, 2001, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It was originally known as Africa Refugee Day, before the United Nations General Assembly officially designated it as an international day in December 2000.

Iran, without the support of international organizations, has accommodated hundreds of thousands of new refugees in the recent crisis in Afghanistan and now has millions of refugees covered by its services. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says Iran and Pakistan have hosted millions of Afghan refugees over the past four decades, and estimates suggest that 90 percent of Afghan refugees are residing in these two countries.

The number of Afghan immigrants living in Iran has exceeded four million. After entering Iran, Afghan immigrants had the highest presence in the provinces of Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, and Sistan-Baluchestan.

Afghanistan General Consul Resident in Mashhad, Abdul Jaber Ansar, said that sanctions against Iran target the economic spheres and from a perspective, three million Afghan refugees bear the negative effects. In fact, anti-human-rights sanctions have also affected the livelihood of Afghan refugees.

“For example, as mentioned, the UNHCR spends about $200,000 annually for a small group of vulnerable immigrants in Khorasan Razavi. However, we believe that the number of people in need is more than the current figures,” he added.

President Ebrahim Raisi also said that despite the fact that the Europeans have made many claims about supporting the Afghans, but have not provided them with any assistance, contrary to their comments, today more than four million Afghans are guests of the Islamic Republic.

The education, life, and employment of these citizens are important to us and should be followed, so we predicted that a central mechanism would be formed as an immigrant organization, he added.

The special representative of the president for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, on the occasion of World Refugee Day twitted that Iran bears the most burden of refugees among the countries in the region.

“The performance of human rights defenders in accepting Afghan, Syrian, and Iraqi refugees and prioritizing Ukrainian refugees is contrary to their claims.

Iran, without the support of international organizations, has accommodated hundreds of thousands of new refugees in the recent crisis in Afghanistan and now has millions of refugees covered by its services,” he wrote.

Refugees’ condition

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 for vaccination against coronavirus.

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

It is estimated that up to 300,000 Afghan asylum-seekers have fled to Iran this year alone in search of safety, while UNHCR has only been able to screen some 24,000 newly arrived Afghans for protection needs.

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

“At this moment, we need the global community to put their hands on the wheel of progress, provide resources, and prevent Afghanistan from spiraling any further.

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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The £1-million contribution through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) will allow WFP to preposition assistance for potential new arrivals from Afghanistan with ready-to-eat meals and other rations, WFP said in a news release published on Monday.

It also gives WFP the flexibility to channel part of the contribution towards supporting 31,000 refugees who have already been living in 20 settlements across the country, helping to stabilize their food security situation and avoid any further population movements.

This timely allocation will enhance WFP’s life-saving mission, allowing WFP to quickly respond to any increased additional needs through a combination of cash and direct food assistance.

“We’re extremely grateful to the FCDO for this generous contribution and its support to our operations in Iran,” said WFP Representative and Country Director in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Negar Gerami.

“The harsh winter months, job losses, lack of cash, and soaring prices have pushed the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan to new highs, with close to 23 million threatened by food insecurity. It is critical that WFP remains prepared to respond to any sudden onset refugee emergency.”

Simon Shercliff, the UK Ambassador to Iran said: “We are pleased to help Iran support the large numbers of Afghan refugees who have chosen to leave Afghanistan. This contribution enables WFP to provide these refugees with vital food assistance, including ready-to-eat meals and other rations.

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

The Islamic Republic of Iran is host to one of the largest and most protracted urban refugee situations in the world and has provided asylum to refugees for over four decades.

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The letter reads as follows:

The current state of the world and the many crises such as Corona, famine, natural disasters, and wars are endangering human life more than ever. In the meantime, the crisis of “asylum” and “immigration” has been a constant and often unanswered issue of states. What has hurt the feelings of the world today and has caught the eyes of all “asylum seekers” is the displacement and confusion of thousands of asylum seekers in the border region of Belarus and Poland.

It is unfortunate that to date, human rights officials and activists of this area in various fields have not been able to find its solution. Being in the cold season and the lack of minimum accommodation facilities and the lack of any material and spiritual support has caused this issue to become a human catastrophe.

Unfortunately, we see the negligence and sometimes ill-considered statements of EU officials in this regard. Following the publication of remarks by Julien Odoul, spokesman for the French National Rally party and a member of France’s far-right party, on asylum seekers and displaced refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border, it is necessary to remind EU officials of the principles of human rights and the rules of law adopted by the United Nations:

For more than two centuries, French Republicans have called France the “center of human rights in the world,” but prevented the admission of asylum seekers and the inhumane statements made by French officials about the status of asylum seekers and their indifference to human rights principles which is incompatible with Universal human rights and Islamic human rights as well, is another sign of this neglect. It is expected that EU officials shall condemn any action and words that are contrary to the protection of the initial rights of human beings and that assume their specified responsibility as well as plan and take effective measures to resolve this issue. Meantime, French Government may fulfill its effective role by taking a peaceful approach and putting its human rights two hundred years of pioneer claim into action.

According to Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, every human being is entitled to migrate and asylum and the right to asylum is a human right and in accordance with the Convention on Refugees (1951), The Parties are bound to apply the rules of the Convention without discrimination to asylum seekers. Article 3 of the Convention provides for: “The Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention without discrimination on the basis of race, religion or nationality in respect of refugees.” In fact, the French Government and its officials, referring to the “dangerousness” of these people to Europe, once again violate human rights, with discriminatory behavior and the use of force and through military and law enforcement forces to prevent these people from seeking asylum in states of refuge. According to the above-mentioned convention, the mainland of refugees cannot be a basis for discrimination and non-acceptance, and on the other hand, the use of the word “dangerous” for Europe includes the basic discrimination and a sign of superiority complex of some European states.

The right to life is an inherent and fundamental human right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In the last two weeks, the number of victims of this situation has reached more than ten people, and the negligence of the French authorities on the right to life and the right to asylum of these people will lead to the death of many more asylum seekers due to cold, hunger and other reasons. The least duty of states and authorities regarding these asylum seekers is to protect their “right to life”. Housing and protecting them from the cold and hunger is the minimum human rights protection that these states should provide, but unfortunately the European authorities, by defining the borders of the European Union, have no human protection plan for these people.

Undoubtedly, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees must address this issue and the behavior of European authorities regarding asylum seekers and the rights of refugees and displaced persons, to prevent the occurrence of such a tragic event and prevent the death of hundreds of people. The principles of human rights are dramatically and symbolically emphasized by European authorities; while in the policies and behavior of these officials, the basic principles of human rights, which are also emphasized in Islamic human rights, are repeatedly ignored. Islamic human rights have taken a more complete look at the international human rights instruments on the refugee rights situation and the issue of asylum, and have made the reception of refugees “obligatory”.

Accordingly, ignoring the rights of refugees is reprehensible and obscene. Article 12 of the Islamic Declaration of Human Rights, 1990, Cairo, explicitly states that: “Every human being has the right, in accordance with the Shari’a, to move and choose a place of residence inside or outside his country, and if he is oppressed, he can seek refuge in another country.” And it is obligatory for “the country of asylum to be patient with him until a shelter is provided for him… ” Therefore, paying attention to the rights of refugees in Islamic countries is considered a legal obligation, and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has also repeatedly proved its practical concern for Afghan and other immigrants.

Finally, with regard to the rules and principles of human rights, it is necessary to pursue the necessary legal action against the situation of asylum seekers and refugees at the borders who are involved in the political games of European governments, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees should support the basic principles of human rights to address the situation of asylum seekers and refugees stranded at the border.

The silence and indifference of the international communities and organizations that are claimants to defend human rights to the situation of asylum seekers on the border between Belarus and Poland could seriously call into question the independence of these bodies and structures and provide grounds for further international distrust.

The post Protecting refugees is a human rights principle, Iran writes to UNHCR appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Advocacy groups and social media users strongly condemned the images of fleeing black men being chased by white officers on horseback with ropes as a stark reminder of the injustices suffered by Black people in the United States both historically and till this day.

Democratic-Republican, Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, says “these are human rights abuses, plain and simple. Cruel, inhumane, and a violation of domestic and international law”. She added, “This needs a course correction and the issuance of a clear directive on how to humanely process asylums seekers at our border.”

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York echoed those sentiments saying “this is a stain on our country. It doesn’t matter if a Democrat or Republican is President, our immigration system is designed for cruelty towards and dehumanization of immigrants, Immigration should not be a crime, and its criminalization is a relatively recent invention.”

Media witnesses saw mounted officers wearing cowboy hats blocking the paths of migrants, and one officer unfurling a cord resembling a lariat, which he swung near a migrant’s face. A video also showing a border guard apparently threatening migrants with the cords was shared on social media.

Reports say one mounted agent yelled at the asylum seekers “Get out now! Back to Mexico!” The agent then swung his rope at the asylum seekers, as one man fell and others tried to shield themselves.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted to reporters “I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate”. She also says “I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate”.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, claims the long reins are used by mounted officials to “ensure control of the horse.” “But we are going to investigate the facts,” he added during a news conference.

The whipping incident was just one desperate moment in a few hours of such scenes along the Rio Grande over the past day or two. In another incident, the same officer grabbed the back of the shirt of a migrant trying to run up the bank with bags of food.

The mostly Haitian refugees have in recent days been crossing back and forth between Ciudad Acuna in Mexico and the sprawling camp across the border in Del Rio to buy food and water that was in short supply on the U.S. side.

The refugees say their squalid encampment under a bridge on the U.S. side of the river was short of supplies. U.S. officials over the last few days had let asylum seekers cross back and forth at a shallow point of the river. On Sunday, however, they told the asylum seekers they will not be allowed back to the U.S. side if they ventured into Mexico.

More than 12,000 migrants, identified by officials as mostly Haitian, have been gathering under the bridge in recent days, awaiting their asylum processing. Instead, U.S. officials began removing several thousand people from the camp over the weekend, including some who were later seen arriving back in Haiti.

The Biden administration is relying on very contested Trump-era policy as it goes ahead with deporting thousands of Haitian refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border, without processing their asylum claims.

Much to the dismay of refugee advocates, the Department of Homeland Security is invoking a public health law, citing possible covid cases, to quickly take Haitians into custody and fly them back to their troubled homeland.

In essence, the White House is violating international law by denying them an opportunity to make a claim to stay in the U.S. to seek asylum. Experts say covid tests can be conducted at the border.

That has left Human rights advocates also enraged at the Biden administration for resuming repatriation flights to Haiti, despite the country’s ongoing political, economic, and environmental disasters. Haiti, already racked by instability, is struggling to recover from an earthquake in August and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July has left many fearing for their lives.

Refugee and asylum rights groups have urging U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “Stop this Discrimination”, slapping the Biden White House for choosing to shut the door on Haitians seeking protection.

The camp under the bridge spanning the Rio Grande has become the latest flashpoint for U.S. authorities seeking to stop asylum-seekers fleeing violence and political unrest in their home countries.

By Monday, hundreds of asylum seekers had returned to the Mexico side amid uncertainty about whether they would be deported back to Haiti on flights organized by U.S. authorities.

The first flights carrying the asylum seekers landed in Port-au-Prince on Sunday from the Del Rio camp arrived in Haiti on Sunday, with at least three more due to make the journey on Monday, according to flight-tracking website Flightaware.

“They can’t send us back to Haiti because everyone knows what Haiti is like right now,” says Haitian refugee Wildly Jeanmary, on the Mexican side of the river after crossing it. Drenched, he cited July’s presidential assassination as a reason not to return with his wife and their 2-year-old daughter to the poorest country in the Americas.

Haiti was also hit by a major earthquake last month. “The government of the United States has no conscience,” said Haitian asylum seeker Nerlin Clerge, who also stood near the riverbank and had traveled to the camp with his wife and their two young sons.

The Department of Homeland Security says it expects between one to three daily repatriation flights back to Haiti, adding that a surge of 600 border agents and other personnel have been deployed to the area. “If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned. Your journey will not succeed” the department declared.

Horace Campbell, professor of African American Studies and Political Science at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University called the expulsion of Haitians “inhumane”.

He added that “what the United States government is doing is unspeakable given the crisis in Haiti …. as one person said, it amounts to something being criminal”.

Campbell also vehemently disagreed with the deportation of Haitian migrants saying “this is just perpetuating white racist stigma against the people of Haiti. And these people did not come from Haiti”.

Meanwhile, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he had called on his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to act immediately to invest in Central America to stem the flow of migrants.

Lopez Obrador spoke after the United States said that it would ramp up deportation flights for thousands of migrants. The Mexican leader said he had appealed to Biden for swift action to tackle the root causes of a wave of migration by people fleeing their homeland.

“As we have mentioned on other occasions, the migratory phenomenon requires a completely new treatment,” says the letter read by Lopez Obrador at his daily news conference. He stressed “the need to act immediately in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador” by investing in economic support programs for farmers and young apprentices.

If the United States invests in Central America “we would be assisting 330,000 people in less than six months who would see this joint action as a hope,” he said. Lopez Obrador has repeatedly proposed expanding one of his domestic welfare programs into Central America in the aim of generating 1.2 million jobs in the region.

Analysts say the U.S. could have easily solved the refugee influx problem by investing just a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars it has spent in military adventurism overseas; to Central America instead.

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To make this documentary, which was financed by the Art Bureau of the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, Foruzesh had to negotiate with 15 countries, and only one—Serbia—allowed him to visit a refugee camp located in the northwestern city of Šid.

“The atmosphere within the camp was like something from fifty or sixty years ago; it did not have much in the way of facilities. Over the three weeks I spent making the film there, seven refugees died,” Foruzesh said in a meeting held at the Mehr News Agency in Tehran on Saturday to promote his film.

He said that one of the refugees was electrocuted while hiding himself under a train enroute to Serbia, while another Iranian refugee had frozen to death while attempting to walk to Europe in the harsh winter cold.

“The conditions were much worse in an Afghan refugee camp. Just as we arrived at the camp, one of the refugees beheaded another. Nerve-racking tension totally dominated the atmosphere of the camp, however, in ‘Lost Whispers in the Distance’, I avoided any prejudice and I did not want to convince someone to do something,” he added.

Foruzesh said that opportunities to solve problems are missed in Iran due to the attitudes of officials to politicize issues.

“We are faced with barriers when we make a film. They tell us, ‘You are not allowed to cross these barriers. Consequently, the film is limited in scope and only a small segment of a formidable issue can be examined. Meanwhile, our society has shown a great capability for understanding, and we live in an era in which we should respect critical perspectives,” he noted.

Foruzesh has asked the Art Bureau to provide some arrangements for relevant officials to watch the documentary.

“I have repeatedly requested the officials to demonstrate concern over the refugee issue and increase their knowledge about the problem,” he said.

“There should be a strong collective will to tackle the issue and find a solution. It’s not my duty as a filmmaker to offer a solution to the issue; I’m not a social reformist. I’ve simply raised the issue of refugees with people,” added Foruzesh, who is also the director of the short dramas “When I Killed the Cat” and “A Few Knots Away”.

Former Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamidreza Asefi, who also served as Iran’s ambassador to the U.A.E., Germany and France, also attended the meeting.

In his speech, he pointed to the difference between the meanings of the words “refugee” and “immigrant.”

“There are numerous Iranian people living abroad as immigrants, many of whom are the honor of our country. There are numerous Iranian physicians, businessmen and students who have chosen to live abroad,” he said.

“Although we would prefer that they live in Iran, they nevertheless have chosen to live outside the country, and hence, they are not refugees,” he noted.

Asefi listed high unemployment, higher cost of living and discrimination in Iran as factors that cause people to leave their homeland. However, he noted that many of the people who immigrate find the destination country to be drastically different from “the dreamland” they had anticipated in their imaginations.

Producer Seyyed Mohammad-Mehdi Dezfuli said, “Due to the higher cost of living in the country, many Iranian people leave their homeland and sometimes they fail to find their dreamland or live in conditions much worse than those that they had experienced in Iran.”

He expressed his hope that more films would be produced about refugee life to raise people’s awareness of the issue.

Photo: Filmmaker Mansur Foruzesh autographs a poster for “Lost Whispers in the Distance” in a meeting held in Tehran on September 18, 2021 to promote the documentary. (Mehr/Ali Haddadi-Asl)

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