TEHRAN – Paul Klouman Bekken, the Norwegian Chargé d’Affaires for Afghanistan, has met with Nader Yar-Ahmadi, the head of the National Organization for Migration, discussing ways to help support Iran in hosting Afghan refugees.

During the meeting which was held on Monday in Tehran, Klouman Bekken commended Iran’s remarkable efforts in hosting refugees, elaborating that he aimed to become more familiar with Iran’s policies in hosting and managing refugees.

The official went on to say that he was well aware of the heavy burden placed by refugees on the country, as his responsibility was to observe Afghans’ return with dignity to their home country, provide suitable living conditions for them in Afghanistan, and monitor their non-return migration.  

For his part, Yar-Ahmadi, lauded the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) for its support, saying that the cross-regional problems in Afghanistan have manifested in the form of migration to neighboring countries, hence, Afghan refugees’ problems are global issues requiring international communities’ efforts to be resolved.

He highlighted refugees’ burden on the country, particularly in the field of energy, on the one hand, and the lack of international support on the other hand, saying, “We expect Norway to persuade its allies and partners to support Iran in hosting Afghan refugees through financial contributions and developing infrastructure, and provide the basis for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as international organizations that aid refugees to start their activities in Iran.”

The rise in Afghans’ migration is mainly due to unfavorable conditions like lack of food, poor education, and health systems. Improving the situation in that country will benefit Afghans as well as other countries, and international communities, he added.

Iran may rethink refugee policies

In October 2024, Yar-Ahmadi said, “In case the international community refrains from taking responsibility and fairly sharing the burden of hosting refugees, the Islamic Republic of Iran will probably revise its immigration policies.” 

The official made the remarks in a meeting held on the sidelines of the annual session with Flippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The 75th Annual Session of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (ExCom) held from October 14 to 19 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lauding the support and the efforts of the UNHCR in Iran, the Iranian official said the increase in foreign nationals’ population along with educational, economic, cultural-social, and health infrastructure pressure on one hand and the lack of consistency between the UNHCR budget and the needs and costs of refugees in the country on the other hand have caused numerous problems, IRNA quoted Yar-Ahmadi as saying.

The official emphasized less than one percent of the costs of refugees have been paid for; hosting more refugees is improbable, and they have to return to their home country.

“The priority of the country is to resettle vulnerable refugees in third countries, despite promises made in your last visit to Iran in the calendar year 1400 (2021 – 2022) to provide more vulnerable refugees with insurance, sadly, not only did the number of those covered not increase, but also decreased from 120,000 to 95,000 individuals.

It should be noted that political issues, including sanctions, must not affect humanitarian activities. Since humanitarian issues are apart from political issues, the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate with financial supporters of refugees in the country, the official added.

MT/MG