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

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.

MT/MG