Tehran, IRNA – Managing director of the Iranian Interior Ministry’s Foreign Citizens Office said here on Tuesday trivial contributions of international organizations during the past years has merely covered 5% of refugees and homeless foreigners’ expenses in Iran.
Iran’s representative at the UNHCR Mehdi Mahmoudi said at the meeting of the Geneva-based Executive Annual Committee of the UNHCR, which was held at the virtual presence of 119 countries and the UN high commissar for refugees that Iran, despite its numerous economic and social problems due to eight years of Iraqi imposed war, the unjust US unilateral sanctions and rival acts, has thus far hosted several times more than its fair share of refugees.
“During the course of the past years the Islamic Republic of Iran has prestigeously hosted a huge wave of refugees despite all those hardships,” he added.
Mahmoudi said that the present day instability in Afghanistan has further aggravated the situation, which is the result of two decades of presence of some countries there on pretext of campaign against terrorism, adding that but all they have left behind is destruction, looting of national wealth, destruction of infrastructures, flight of minds, destruction of infrastructures, poverty, and eventually homelessness of millions of Afghans inside and outside their country.
He said that some members of the international community and the UNHCR at times of crises and emergency situations rapidly warn about the need to accept the refugees in countries, but after the end of crises and emergency situations unfortunately they do not present any practical program for sustainable solving of the problem, or voluntary return of them to their homeland, leaving the host countries with huge piles of problems alone.
“This leads to the deepening of the gap of inequality among the countries that accept refugees because they feel responsible and for humanitarian causes,” he added.
Source: Islamic Republic News Agency – IRNA
