Author: AFPFri, 2017-03-17ID: 1489773456114225100
TEHRAN: While Iranians would bear the brunt of US President Donald Trump’s visa ban, if it ever comes into force, international officials say the country has quietly emerged as one of the most generous toward refugees.
“The leadership demonstrated by the Iranian government has been exemplary in hosting refugees and keeping borders open,” said Sivanka Dhanapala, who heads the UN High Commissioner for Refugees team in Tehran.
“It is a story that is not told often enough.”
Iran has been sheltering a million registered Afghans for almost four decades, and NGOs estimate there are around 2 million more living under the radar.
That is the fourth-largest refugee population in the world, the UN says.
“We have also worked with the government on incorporating refugees into a government-sponsored health insurance scheme which is a ground-breaking development not just for Iran but globally for refugees,” Dhanapala said.
On Wednesday, a federal court in Hawaii halted Trump’s new visa ban on six mostly Muslim nations including Iran, with a judge ruling there was a strong likelihood it would cause “irreparable injury” should it go ahead.
If it comes into force, the executive order would have a particularly tough impact on the 1 million Iranians living and studying in the US, as well as their families.
Foreign NGO workers have noted the irony that Iran is targeted by the ban while it continues to deal with huge numbers who have fled an American-led conflict.
Dhanapala highlighted the 2015 decree by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordering schools to take in all Afghan children, documented or not — a move that left authorities scrambling to build the equivalent of 15,000 new classrooms.
Main category: Middle-East
