TEHRAN – Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, have explored ways to address problems related to Afghan refugees living in the country and those being deported.

The officials met on Tuesday in Tehran. The meeting focused on holding a trilateral meeting among Iranian officials, Afghan officials, and UNHCR representatives to increase financial assistance from international organizations, organize Afghan refugees, and prevent drug trafficking, according to the Ministry of Interior's website. 

During the meeting, Grandi lauded Iran’s generosity in hosting refugees over the past four decades. “I’m personally well aware of the burden the country and the Iranian people are going through.  Unfortunately, the international community’s support for Iran has significantly declined in recent years. However, we ask Iran to return (illegal) immigrants gradually, not to put Afghanistan under pressure because the country cannot accept them all at once due to economic and social problems.”

The official hoped that Iran would continue its humanitarian approach with the contributions of the international community.

For his part, Momeni said, “Unauthorized refugees will be returned to their home countries without being asked any questions anywhere in the world. However, in Iran, if an Afghan’s life is threatened or if they are sick and need to stay here for treatment, their return will be delayed. They have not been deported violently.

Afghan governors have seen firsthand how the deported nationals were treated respectfully.”

The official went on to say that some three to four legal Afghans are residing in the country who are working and are respected by Iranians. Their children are attending the same schools as Iranians, and work in Iranian workshops, he added.

Nader Yar-Ahmadi, the head of the National Organization for Migration, for his part, said Iran has hosted Afghan refugees for over four decades, and will continue to do so in a different way, though. Only documented refugees will be able to benefit from the services in the country.

“Mr. Grandi has honestly confessed that international financial support is nothing compared to the country’s extremely costly measures. We expect the international community to enhance its assistance,” Yar-Ahmadi highlighted.

Deported Afghans get health services at border terminal

Some 36,000 illegal Afghan refugees have benefited from medical services offered on the Dogharon border terminal in Taybad, north-eastern Khorasan Razavi province, while returning to their home country, an official with the health ministry said on Monday. 

They were visited by physicians and received nursing services. They were also educated about proper hygiene practices and ways to avoid communicable diseases. Also, suspicious cases received testing, IRNA quoted Soudabeh Nekouhi as saying.

Heatstroke, food poisoning, and high blood pressure were among the main reasons to visit the health center, she added.

From the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), medical products worth one billion rials (almost 1.150 dollars) have been distributed among undocumented refugees in Dogharon. Moreover, 22,492 Afghans who have legally entered the country were screened, and 10,753 individuals were vaccinated as part of the prevention program, Nekouhi said.

All the Afghan nationals, 85 percent of whom are men, are screened and tested for 16 different diseases, she further noted.

In May, Grandi appreciated Iran’s efforts in providing services to refugees in different fields, such as health, education, and employment.

The valuable services offered by Iran, in the face of sanctions and some economic problems, are really valuable and commendable, IRNA quoted Grandi as saying.

The official made the remarks in a meeting with Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi; the officials met on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA), held from May 19 to June 27 in Geneva, Switzerland.