TEHRAN – More than 90,000 Afghan nationals residing in Iran were sent back to their country in the spring.

The Afghan nationals were gathered from across the country and returned via the Dogharon border in Khorasan Razavi province, IRNA quoted Hossein Sherafati-Rad, the provincial director for foreign nationals and refugees, as saying.

The Afghan nationals wanted personally to return to their country, he stressed.

In the spring of last year, a total of 86,162 Afghan nationals were returned to their country.

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.

In June 2022, Maha Kashour, head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Mashhad, said Iran’s efforts and activities in the last 40 years have been commendable to refugees, and in the past year, after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, has reached its peak.

Iran has so far been able to provide decent services to refugees in the fields of health, livelihood, and vocational training in cooperation with UNHCR, she noted.

The Ministry of Interior has announced to the Ministry of Education a list of 200,000 Afghan children who have the conditions to study in Iranian schools.

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.

MG