An Iranian diplomat has reminded the international community that Iran is still offering assistance to Afghan refugees despite being subject to harshest sanctions.
Ali Bahreini, Iran’s Ambassador to the Geneva-based international organizations, stated on Friday that the current state of affairs in Afghanistan amply demonstrates how seriously the ambitious foreign policy coupled with military interventions by arrogant countries have harmed the lives of migrants in both their home countries and the host countries.
He emphasized that despite being subject to unilateral and unlawful sanctions for the past 40 years, the Islamic Republic has made every effort to provide services to Afghan migrants. As a result, he urged the international community to refrain from creating new crises that would obscure the Afghan migrants' current predicament.
According to the envoy, 380,000 out of the more than 700,000 Afghan students enrolled in Iranian schools and academic centers lack identification documents.
Antonio Vitorino, director general of the International Agency for Migration (IOM), noted that the organization has always praised Iranians for their generosity toward migrants and that in recent years it has worked to improve funding for Afghan refugees and support host nations like Iran.
High-ranking officials and delegations from member states attended the 113th session of the IOM council, which in Geneva from November 29 to December 2.
Iran became an observer member of the International Organization for Migration in 1995, and in 2001 it was admitted as a full member to the body’s Governors' Council.
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