Interview with head of immigration and refugee affairs

The fact that today Iran is host to the greatest number of refugees in the world remains an untold story. Despite this distinction, the government maintains that little international assistance or recognition has been forthcoming, thereby compelling the authorities to shoulder most of the burden unaided. In an exclusive interview with IRIN on Thursday, Ahmad Hosseini, the director-general of the interior ministry’s Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs Office (BAFIA), the coordinating body for refugee affairs, discussed the refugee issues facing his country. Hosseini confirmed that the Iranian border would be kept open in the event of a potential influx of refugees from Iraq while, on the issue of Afghan refugees, he called on the international community to pay its share - warning if not - Western countries could be on the receiving end of even more refugees in the future. QUESTION: It has been said that Iran hosts the largest refugee population in the world today. Exactly how many refugees are there and where are they from? ANSWER: As you said, Iran hosts the largest refugee population in the world today. Of the 2.5 million registered refugees in the country, 2.3 million are Afghans, while approximately 170,000 are Iraqi refugees. The remaining 3,000 or 4,000 are from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. At the moment, we have to subtract 202,000 Afghans from the 2.3 million who have already repatriated back to their country in the past few months. Q: What impact has this had on your country? A: Naturally, this country, which was involved in a long eight-year war with Iraq, as well as a revolution before that, and the first group of Afghan refugees coming to Iran in the 1980s, had to funnel its economic resources and income to the reconstruction of the country after the war. During that time, however, having refugees in the country had negative effects on our economy: the refugees living in Iran imposed a heavy cost upon us. [However,] due to consideration of humanitarian policies, we didn’t force them to live in camps and they were allowed to live in the cities instead. Like Iranian citizens, they enjoy many facilities and subsidies, such as education, energy, job opportunities, local civil services etcetera - all free of charge. Additionally, we also encountered some security issues in our country as a result of hosting the refugees – jeopardising safety and security in the country. All of these things have cost us dearly. [However] because of our humanitarian and Islamic polices, as well as our commitment to the 1951 Geneva Convention, we accepted this responsibility and commitment which has been an honour for us. Q: In terms of international assistance, what type of aid does Iran receive? A: With regard to international aid, shortly after the first groups of refugees entered the country, UNHCR [office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] officially began its activities in 1980 or perhaps a little later. It costs the Iranian government US $650 per year for each refugee in the country, whereas international aid at its highest rate has been nothing more than $6 per refugee in Iran. As you can see, international refugee assistance comes to less than 1 percent of that of Iran’s. UNHCR’s budget in Iran is $26 million. US $8 million is allocated just for its main office in Tehran and some administrative jobs, while the rest is dedicated to building schools, health centres and some other things for refugees. The World Food Programme has helped us in providing some wheat, oil, sugar and rice to those refugees in camps, but not to those scattered in the cities. Given that only 70,000 refugees out of more than two million are living in camps, you can easily estimate that international assistance provides for only a very small percentage of the refugees. On our part, we have maintained large-scale relations with international organisations. We are one of the oldest members of the Geneva Convention, and it is natural that we are able to have good relations with these organisations. However, the funds that have been allocated to us are merely nothing. Regarding your question: Yes, I think there should be more international assistance, because basically the refugee problem is not Iran’s problem. Regarding the 2.5 million refugees we have in Iran, we have supported the international community, which is why we have accepted this problem. We – Iran – have been acting as a dam between refugees and refugee emigration to Europe and Western countries. While the rich countries of the world didn’t accept a large number of refugees to their countries during the Afghan civil war and Iraqi crisis, we did, and helped them. They have to pay their share. In fact, we demand that the international community pays its share. We don’t ask them to help us. The Iranian government is in no need of help from the international community. However, we tell them if they don’t want to accept refugees to their countries, they have to help pay their maintenance costs here. If they don’t do this, we will be unable to shoulder this burden much longer alone. Q: Recently, there has been speculation that if Iraq was attacked, Iran could be on the receiving end of a major new influx of refugees. What contingency plans has your government put into place regarding this? A: In contingency cases, our borders will not be closed to refugees. In the first American attack with its allies on Iraq in 1990, we did the same. We have prepared a plan in case of any possible crisis in Iraq, and can deal with it. On the basis of this plan, our policy is to welcome and provide housing to potential refugees. The probable refugees will only be along the border areas, most preferably on Iraq’s land. In the event that their lives are in danger, we will house them along our own border and land. We’ll use and receive help from international organisations. With the help of UNHCR we have a common plan to help and to provide for 150,000 refugees in the first stage. Additionally, some other international agencies affiliated with the UN will help us on this issue, as will some other NGO and charity organisations. We are almost prepared for this matter, and our intention is to help them. However, we will never let the refugees come towards the cities. We will keep them along the border and will transfer them to their own country at the earliest opportune moment when the war is finished. Q: Regarding the repatriation of Afghans from this country – already well over 150,000 – how is it going? A: Since 9 April, as of last night [Wednesday], the number of repatriated refugees has reached 202,000. In just four months, we succeeded in fulfilling 50 percent of the Geneva contract which was signed between UNHCR and the Afghan government. We were supposed to repatriate 400,000, but already half of that figure has been achieved. On our part, the schedule is going well. On average, 4,000 Afghans are voluntarily repatriating daily. I hope this trend will increase in the future. Q: How does it compare with the voluntary repatriation programme in Pakistan? A: The conditions between Iran and Pakistan are totally incomparable. First of all, Pakistan has not signed any sort of voluntary repatriation agreement on refugees with Afghanistan and the UN. Secondly, Pakistan has kept its refugee population in camps along the border from the very beginning of their influx. They haven’t allowed them to enter the cities or go from the border area. So the repatriation process in that area will be much quicker... However, the Afghan refugees in Iran live throughout 19 provinces here. Additionally, the standard of living is so different from that of Pakistan. As I said before, it is natural that their repatriation will be a little slower due to these conditions. But in the end, our plan is to repatriate all of the Afghan refugees. We believe Afghans should not stay too long away from their motherland. Afghans enjoy all facilities here, such as job opportunities and education. For instance, 200,000 Afghans are studying in Iranian schools. Additionally, one million of the Afghans living in Iran were born in this country. Therefore they are deep rooted – making it difficult for them to return to their country. Afghanistan is their homeland. They have a legal government, and hopefully they’ll go back. Q: How many Afghans do you feel will actually return this year? A: Four hundred thousand refugees will be repatriated on the basis of a contract signed with UNHCR and Afghanistan, and some others voluntarily. I think this year between 600,000 and 700,000 will be repatriated from Iran by the end of the year. Q: What are Iran’s main concerns over this effort? A: Our greatest concern is that the international community does not fulfil its commitments on the part of Afghanistan, and does not help them on the matter of reconstruction effectively. In the event that they do not receive any help for reconstruction, those who have gone back may return to their previous places [in Iran]. This would be dangerous for the international community, because this time they will be coming to Iran and Pakistan not to live in, but rather merely as a transit point to emigrate onward to European and Western countries. Our second concern is that the total measures which are going to be taken should principally meet the international community’s help. We have to take strong decisions and measures on the matter of repatriation, but our main concern is the reconstruction and rebuilding of Afghanistan. Q: The United Nations has always maintained that the repatriation of Afghans should be voluntary. What efforts has your government undertaken to ensure that this happens? A: We have signed an agreement in Geneva regarding the commitment of the three sides – UNHCR, Afghanistan and Iran – and naturally one of the conditions of UNHCR was the voluntary nature of the return. In registration centres and exiting points along the border, refugees are given a specific form to sign indicating the voluntary nature of their return. In the event that he or she is illiterate, they fingerprint that form. UNHCR subsequently confirms it as well. These are the ensuring factors of the Afghans' voluntary repatriation. Q: There is a major question mark regarding those Afghans living in Iran that are undocumented or unregistered. What is the government’s position? A: Following the establishment of Mr Karzai as president of Afghanistan, we recognise Afghanistan as an independent country and as a member of the international community. Both countries therefore should observe travelling laws and regulations - or, in other words, foreign citizens must abide by the necessary rules and regulations. It is natural that those [Afghans] that are undocumented or illegally pass through the border and do not have any political reason for doing so will be regarded as illegal refugees on the part of Iran, as well as Afghanistan. We won’t consider them as refugees at all and we will treat those unregistered aliens in accordance to our laws. In other words, we will repatriate them to their own country and, very seriously, we will prevent those undocumented Afghan refugees from entering Iran. Q: Would an effective screening process help on this issue? A: On the basis of the interior ministry’s plan, we have given two chances for those undocumented Afghan refugees in Iran to report to our [BAFIA] branches and receive their exit documents. Fortunately, during this time, 20,000 unregistered refugees have reported, received their exit documents and have repatriated. Regarding the remaining undocumented Afghans, we will deal legally with those who haven’t reported to us before 28 August. Our plan will be to give them a communiqué and to warn employers from hiring them. Additionally, we will speak to the Afghan embassy here and to respected [older] Afghans to encourage these people to return back and not to live in Iran illegally.