Iran - One of The Largest Refugee Hosting Countries in The World

A refugee is someone who is an outsider of the country of his residence; has a well fear of prosecution; is unable or unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, in fear of persecution.

The world is now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. 65.5 million people around the world have been forced from home. Among them nearly 22.5 million are refugees. There are also 10 million stateless people who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement. To bring overall development of the refugees integration is the very basic thing.

Local integration is a complex and gradual process with legal, economic, social and cultural dimensions. It imposes considerable demands on both the individual and the receiving society. In many cases, acquiring the nationality of the country of asylum is the culmination of this process. UNHCR estimates that, over the past decade, 1.1million refugees around the world became citizens in their host countries.

Islamic republic of Iran has been hosting millions of refugees from its neighboring countries for many years. Iran has topped the list as the largest refugee haven, mainly for the Afghan and Iraqi refugees. Since, the 1979 revolution, Iran has frequently topped the list of hosting countries. At the end of 2005, UNHCR estimated that Iran was host to the 3rd largest refugee population in the world, with a total of 716,000 refugees. Iran is a signatory of both the 1951 Convention and its1967 protocol. Iran has shouldered most of the burden of hosting, maintaining and absorbing its refugee population. International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been working with the Iranian government in case of integrating the refugees. The Iranian government is providing blue cards to the refugees and the blue card holders are granted indefinite permission of residence and social benefits, such as access to free education, health services, adult literacy training and subsidies on basic essentials. They are also getting the work permit.

Islamic republic of Iran along with the help of IOM is providing technical cooperation in the area of migration management and policy development. The government has been combating irregular migration, including human trafficking and migrant smuggling. It has been facilitating reintegration of the refugees in Iran. The government has been working to develop national and regional migration policies and strategies. The government has been providing knowledge to its citizen about migration and reintegrating the refugees. The government has taken programs like Return Reintegration of Qualified and Skilled Afghan Nationals from the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (RRQSA) so that they can contribute to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. The government has been working with IOM, UNHCR to develop the resettlement process of the refugees.

The Iranian government is hosting huge number of refugees for a very long period of time and they are providing proper living standard to the registered refugees. The Iranian government hopes and believes that other countries will also come forward to help the refugees and bring overall development.