Iran demands world states to devise refugee repatriation plans

Iranian Interior Minister Abdulreza Rahmani Fazli in a meeting with Head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres called on the international community to devise a comprehensive and scheduled plan to repatriate the foreign refugees residing in Iran. “The international community should act upon its responsibilities and undertakings with regard to refugees and help improve their situation and conditions for their return,” Rahmani Fazli said during the meeting in Tehran on Monday. He also underlined the necessity for the voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees from Iran, and said, “Afghanistan should be assisted to create infrastructures so that the refugees can return to their country and the UN and the international community should play a greater role to this end more than before.” Guterres, for his part, praised Iran’s continued support in providing generous protection to the remaining Afghan refugees, and called on the international community to provide Iran with better and more effective assistance in this regard. Iran has been a generous host for more than 2 million Afghan refugees for two decades, with little help from the international community. Tehran has repeatedly urged the international community to strengthen support for Iran for hosting the Afghan refugees and provide repatriation support for the refugees. Voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran has slowed in recent years in the face of poor security and economic conditions in Afghanistan, which Tehran blames on the US-led invasion of the country in 2001. The office of the UNHCR was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950. According to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. UNHCR first opened an office in Iran in 1984 and expanded its presence with the massive influx of Iraqi refugees following the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and the start of Afghans' mass return movement to Afghanistan in 1992. Today UNHCR has its Central office representation in Tehran, plus three sub offices in Mashhad, Kerman and Ahwaz