IRIN focus on increased NGO activity

As the humanitarian crisis deepens in neighbouring Afghanistan, Tehran has been warming to the idea of allowing in more international relief agencies. In the past, Iran has restricted the activities of NGOs at moments of national emergency. Many relief organisations granted access to Kurdish refugees following the 1991 Gulf War were asked to leave once the crisis was over. Feeling that it has been shouldering the burden of Afghan refugees with little international support, the Iranian government is looking to opening the door to more foreign aid agencies. "We welcome the presence of more NGOs, and are working to facilitate their presence in the country," Gholam-Reza Mashhadi, head of international section of the bureau of aliens and foreign immigrants affairs office (BAFIA), told IRIN in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Mashhadi, who has called for greater international burden-sharing in the crisis in Afghanistan, said NGOs could play a pivotal role in Iran in providing assistance to thousands of displaced Afghans both inside their country and along the common border. This comes as welcome news for the six agencies currently operating in Iran, as well as those interested in coming in to do so. Citing government bureaucracy, most agencies bypassed Iran in favour of Pakistan, a country where most organisations working on refugee issues have established themselves. If Mashhadi's offer is genuine, however, that could change. Mahdi Haghbin, who facilitates international NGO activity for BAFIA, said such relief groups were performing a significant role during the current crisis. He hoped for a stronger NGO presence in Iran. He said there had been a remarkable increase in the number of NGO representatives passing through his office recently. "On average, we have three or four representatives a day visiting our office in Tehran," he told IRIN. Since the latest crisis began, BAFIA has established an Afghan refugee crisis centre to coordinate and facilitate the affairs of international NGOs and humanitarian organisations on issues such as access to border areas, customs and visa procurement. "We did this to expedite what previously was a slow process in order to attract a larger amount of international aid for the displaced within Afghanistan," Haghbin explained. Need for help Many of the victims of the crisis came to the border area seeking assistance, he maintained. "We, as the Iranian government, have told the international community we are ready to give assistance to them through Iran," he said. "Nonetheless, we need more international assistance and a greater NGO presence to provide the necessary help to those in need." With winter rapidly setting in, he appealed for blankets, foodstuffs, medical supplies and shelter for the two refugee camps inside Afghan territory being maintained by the Iranian Red Crescent on the border in Sistan-Baluchestan Province - Mahkaki and Mile-46. "I believe the NGOs could do a lot there," he said. According to Iranian figures, after more than two decades of war and conflict, there are an estimated 2.7 million Afghan refugees living in Iran already. These constitute a major financial burden, which Tehran maintains Iran has been shouldering largely alone. This helps explain why the government has so far refused to open its border to another influx, despite calls by the United Nations to do so. Bureaucracy Explaining the administrative process for relief organisations wishing to establish themselves in Iran, Haghbin said BAFIA had established an NGO committee, comprising representatives of the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and information. "This committee coordinates all the affairs of international NGOs in Iran in terms of applications and procedures for establishing themselves here," he said. Iran has long been criticised for being slow in issuing visas, one of the issues BAFIA is working to resolve. Once representatives arrive, BAFIA assists them in going to the border areas where they can conduct a proper assessment of the situation before submitting their application for approval, a process BAFIA maintains is now much quicker. Experience One international relief group taking up the offer has been World Vision. Its assessment team leader, Ton van Zutphen, said its initiative had already paid off. "World Vision's assessment team has been in Iran for about three weeks, and meets frequently with all the relevant authorities, particularly BAFIA," he told IRIN. Initially, World Vision wished to work as a donor agency and contribute funds to other NGOs and the Red Crescent. "However, we were invited to become an implementing agency as well, and submitted a request to BAFIA a week after our arrival," he said. Within the three weeks of its arrival, World Vision had brought in a cargo aircraft carrying 40 mt of relief goods, signed an agreement with one international NGO and are finalising agreements with two others. "Such progress could not have been possible without the support and open encouragement of BAFIA," van Zutphen said. As to World Vision's humanitarian assistance from within Iran, he confessed he had not anticipated that his organisation would be able to make as much progress as it had. "I remain positive over the reception of the international NGOs by the authorities, and their encouragement to let us take initiatives to respond to the crisis," van Zutphen said. According to the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran (ICRI), a coordinating body established in 1993, the only issue international NGOs are currently involved in is that of refugees. Despite being one of the strongest advocates for NGOs in Iran, the ICRI representative in Tehran, Nazamin Kazemi, warned that the policy was not of a completely open-door nature. "I don't want the NGOs to assume they can just get on a plane, go out in the field and start implementing. The door is open to applications, but there are still procedures to be adhered to," she told IRIN. The present atmosphere was, however, more conducive, she said. "Earlier an application could take three months or even four months to get a reply to. Now we can get responses within three or four working days." Asked what constraints relief groups would face in Iran, she said: "Every project you do receives approval from the Ministry of Interior, and you work within the [framework of the] approval you have". She explained that now there was no leeway for the mismanagement of funds, thus rendering accountability in the country stronger. "Some people see this as a constraint, while others view it as a blessing," she said. "Personally, I think it may be a bit more time-consuming to get things done, but, in the end, your money is safer in Iran, your staff is safer in Iran, and your project will be better implemented in Iran." The country representative of the British-based NGO Ockenden International, Nastaran Moosavi, was more cautious. "The atmosphere is slightly better than before, but there remains a lot more to be done," she told IRIN. The legal framework for international NGOs was nonexistent, and visas had to be approved by the foreign ministry, she said. Although a set of rules now existed, it had yet to be approved by parliament, she said. "We have succeeded for the past five years, because we use local staff. Other international NGOs have real problems." Asked what advice she would give new organisations, Moosavi said: "Request that a memorandum of understanding be signed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure [that] some of the requests are taken care of, particularly on the issue of multiple visas, which remains problematic." She said visas for positions on long-term projects also remained problematic, something which discouraged many people from applying for postings in Iran. While admitting that the overall atmosphere for NGOs in light of the current crisis had changed, those who did not wish to make long-term commitments in Iran, could instead also work with local NGOs in order to increase their capacity, she added. Attracting international support The question now, however, remains whether Iran has opened the door enough. By moving too slowly, the government could miss out on millions of dollars of humanitarian assistance. But according to Kazemi, the government has come to terms with the fact that it can no longer just sit on applications for two or three months. "Iran is missing out and, yes, the Iranian government needs international assistance, and deserves international assistance," she said. "Once the international community states clearly what they want to do, I think every option will be seriously considered with an open mind - and now in a more expeditious way." Kazemi said the authorities had not made enough noise about burden-sharing, but added that there may be a lot of cultural reasons for this shortcoming. "Iran doesn't like to go to the international community for assistance," she said. "But when you talk about burden-sharing, somehow, when it comes to Iran, it turns into a joke." She said she believed the international community did not have the facts on Afghans in Iran. "Iran spends over US $1 billion a year in subsidies alone for the Afghan refugees, while UNHCR spends US $14 million in Iran - including administration costs," Kazemi said. Coupled with a small contribution from the international NGOs present in the country, international assistance for the refugee problem in Iran came to about US $20 million a year. Although no major influx of new refugees had occurred, Kazemi said she hoped the new NGOs would help those already in Iran. "Once this crisis is over, I hope Iran is not just seen as a transit point for goods to be funneled into Afghanistan," she said. "I hope the remaining Afghan refugees in Iran won't be snubbed and forgotten again."