Official says Iran shoulders heaviest burden of refugees
\nTEHRAN
\nThe Islamic Republic of Iran as a hospitable neighboring state has been hosting millions of Afghan refugees for several decades while facing relentless sanctions for several years. The United Nations designated June 20 as the World Refugee Day to commemorate millions of asylum-seekers, including Afghans who have experienced decades of instability and occupation, so they were forced to leave their homeland to get rid of agony and insecurity, especially after the start of US-led war on Afghanistan in 2001.
\nThe day marks the power and courage of people, who were forced to flee conflict and torture. The designation provides an opportunity to create solidarity and promote an atmosphere for others to understand refugees\u2019 woes.
\nThe asylum-seekers come from different parts of the globe. They might travel by airplane, boat, or even walk to survive. The common goal of refugees is that all seek security and tranquility.
\nIran has shown good neighborliness and generosity in particular when it came to hosting refugees from Afghanistan. Afghan people have suffered from different conflicts and political turmoil such as the incursion by the former Soviet Union in 1979, the Taliban\u2019s seizure of power in 1996, the US-led attack on Afghanistan in 2001, and the Taliban\u2019s retaking of power in 2021. Thus, Iran embraced around three million Afghan refugees over several decades; however, as it turns out, there are many more asylum-seekers from Afghanistan in the Islamic country, who have not been numbered so far.
\nThe international community and Afghan authorities have time and again emphasized that the Islamic Republic and Iranian people have shown generosity, when it came to hosting the refugees, while the Iranians have been suffering from economic woes that have their roots in Western pressures and sanctions.
\nThe UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) named Iran as the fourth state in terms of hosting a great population of asylum-seekers. Last year\u2019s reckless withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan caused a reemergence of insecurity in Afghanistan; therefore, millions of Afghans were forced to flee their country once more.
\nIran opened border crossings and welcomed many refugees, including a number of academics from Afghanistan\u2019s universities, who were settled in residential units of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan Province.
\nSupreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei underlined that children of all refugees from Afghanistan should be provided with education services in Iran, which is proof that Iranians show hospitality in dealing with asylum-seekers from the eastern neighboring country.
\nAfghan refugees are allowed to study at Iranian universities. Iran vaccinated many Afghan refugees during the coronavirus pandemic, which was praised by international organizations and authorities of other countries.
\nSecretary-General of the United Nations Ant\u00f3nio Guterres described Iran as a very influential country among the UN member states and praised the Islamic Republic for hosting the Afghan refugees generously.
\nMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s special envoy on Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi-Qomi made the remark in a tweet on Monday in the wake of World Refugee Day.
\nIran is shouldering the weightiest burden among the countries in the region regarding refugees, based on Islamic and humane standards, the special envoy on Afghanistan said.
\nThe human rights claimants\u2019 performance in accepting Afghan, Syrian, and Iraqi refugees and their giving supremacy to the Ukrainian refugees contrasted their claims, Kazemi-Qomi added.
\nHe also said that Iran hosted hundreds of thousands of Afghan new migrants in the recent crisis without any support from claimant international organizations. =DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Official says Iran shoulders heaviest burden of refugees TEHRAN The Islamic Republic of Iran as a hospitable neighboring state has been hosting millions of Afghan refugees for several decades while facing relentless sanctions for several years. The United Nations designated June 20 as the World Refugee Day to commemorate millions of asylum-seekers, including Afghans who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3578,1227,8751],"class_list":{"0":"post-267141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-afghan-refugees","9":"tag-iran","10":"tag-relentless"},"yoast_head":"\n