UN official: Iran’s behavior with Afghan refugees outstanding

Director of the regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says what the Islamic Republic of Iran has done for Afghan refugees over the past four decades has been outstanding.

“I think – objectively speaking – what the Islamic Republic has done for Afghan refugees over the last four decades have been tremendous,” Indrika Ratwatte said in an interview with Iran Press on Monday.

Asked about reports by Iran's enemies claiming that the country is oppressing and cracking down on Afghan refugees, the UN official said all such reports are false as the Islamic Republic has included Afghan refugees in education and health, which has been ‘exemplary’.

“Iran has included Afghan refugees in education, in health and that has resulted in an entire generation of young Afghan people having opportunities, so I would say that it has been exemplary what Iran has done for Afghan refugees.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, Ratwatte said that after the COVID-19 outbreak, necessary equipment was sent to Iran for refugees through cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), adding that the UNHCR plans to send six million doses of vaccines for the refugees in the country.

He also praised Iran for including refugees aged over 75 in the national vaccination campaign.

In February 2020, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi praised Iran and Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees despite receiving minimal support from the international community.

Guterres and Grandi  made the remarks while addressing a two-day Refugee Summit in Islamabad, entitled "40 Years of Hosting Afghan Refugees."

They commended the Islamic Republic of Iran for taking various initiatives to boost the quality of life for Afghan refugees with its own resources despite economic pressures.

Grandi also praised the hospitality of Iran and Pakistan, saying “This is what we are here to mark today: the compassion, the hospitality, the solidarity of the people of the host countries.”

Also in April 2020, the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Iran, Ivo Freijsen, hailed as an "important achievement" the country’s hosting of Afghan refugees for more than four decades, vowing to help the Islamic Republic protect Afghans amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

ME