TEHRAN - UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations George Okoth-Obbo said on Wednesday that there are exactly 960,000 Afghan nationals in Iran, but the number of undocumented Afghans in the country is much more, numbering about 3 millions.

Visiting Iran as part of his tour to the region to review the situation of Afghan refugees, Okoth-Obbo told reporters that “last year a total of about 60,000 Afghan refugees returned home from Iran and Pakistan, but 2016 shows a big reduction in the number of refugees going back home; the number so far is 2,000 only which is a very very big drop.”

He said the drop in the number of Afghan refugees going back home “reflects that the difficult conditions and conflict are still continuing in that country and that more Afghans are expected to leave that country.”

He added, “This also suggests that the number of Afghans going home will be fewer and at least for time being those who are living in Iran and Pakistan continue to remain where they are.”

When asked that Iran is complaining that it is not receiving enough international support for the refugees it is hosting, the UNHCR official replied, “The first thing I would like to recognize and acknowledge is that the greatest investment being made in providing protection, security, safety, assistance, allowing access to healthcare and education for the refugees is being made by the [Iranian] government.”

He also said the UNHCR’s budgets have not been cut for the operation in Iran, but the number of refugees across the world in need of assistance has grown largely while the resources to support them have not been increased.

What should be done is to appeal to the donor countries, NGOs and other partners to enhance their financial support to UNHCR to enable it to carry out its programs in support of the Afghan refugees in Iran as well as other countries hosting Afghans, he stated.

According to a report issued by the UNHCR office in Tehran, Okoth-Obbo also commended Iran for its generosity and exemplary role in relation to refugees. He noted UNHCR’s commitment to continue and further enhance its support towards Iran.

Citing numerous examples of the generosity of the Iranian government, Okoth-Obbo said, “For over 30 years, Iran has demonstrated a humanitarian commitment to protect millions of refugees. This is heart-warming, particularly at a time when 60 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide.”

During his mission to Iran, Okoth-Obbo met with senior officials of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, education, health, and labor. He also had the opportunity to interact with Afghan communities, key partners and the diplomatic community and visit refugee centers, schools, health centers and other facilities that provide services to refugees.

Okoth-Obbo praised the high quality of healthcare offered to refugees on par with Iranian nationals. He noted that the inclusion of refugees in Iran’s Universal Public Health Insurance scheme is exemplary. He called for efforts to stabilize this initiative and committed UNHCR’s support to the government towards this scheme.

In relation to education of refugees, he commended the Iranian government for providing refugee children’s access to Iranian schools. In particular, he recognized the critical importance of the Supreme Leader’s decree that allowed for children of undocumented families to attend schools in the country.

Okoth-Obbo pledged UNHCR’s support in easing the pressure that the educational system will face as they enroll even more children.

He stressed that refugees can be an asset to their host country, while recognizing that the government and UNHCR have provided vocational training and created jobs to ensure that refugees, especially vulnerable women, become self-reliant.

He added that these skills would help them throughout their lives, in Iran and also when they return back to their country.

In this context, he reaffirmed UNHCR’s commitment to Iran and the Afghan refugees, saying the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) - the quadripartite regional framework between the governments of the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran together with UNHCR – continues to be the main framework for joint interventions aimed at facilitating voluntary return and sustainable reintegration of Afghan refugees in Afghanistan while simultaneously providing assistance to refugee hosting communities.

Okoth-Obbo also thanked the government and people of Iran for the support provided to some 30,000 Iraqi refugees who have been residing here for decades, and for ensuring they have access to services in the country.

Expressing his appreciation for his visit to Iran, the UNHCR official said, “I remain confident that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue providing asylum space to the refugees and with the existing good relationship between the government and UNHCR, they will do the necessary to best overcome the existing challenges and address the protection issues related to the refugees.”