UN Praises Iran's 'Exemplary' Refugee Settlement Program

On Wednesday the representative for the U.N. high commissioner for refugees lauded Iran for its "exemplary" refugee settlement program which has welcomed millions of Afghans displaced by decades of U.S. and NATO backed war and occupation.

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"In a world where you have multiple bad stories about hosting refugees, I think Iran is really a good news story," said Sivanka Dhanapala, the head of the U.N. refugee program in Iran. "It's a story that's not told often enough."

"The leadership demonstrated by the Iranian government has been exemplary in hosting refugees and keeping borders open," he added.

His remarks came on the same day a federal judge blocked a second attempt by the Trump administration to ban Muslim refugees and travelers from entering the U.S.

One of the countries targeted in Trump’s order is Iran, which has continued to supported refugee settlement despite the challenges created by more than 20 years of increasingly brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S.

For almost four decades — beginning with a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, continuing through two decades of U.S. backed Taliban violence, and culminating with the ongoing U.S. backed NATO invasion and occupation — Iran has opened its border to more than three million refugees from its neighbor.

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Iran has the fourth largest refugee population in the world, with approximately one million in official refugee settlement camps, and an estimated two million largely integrated into Iranian society.

"We've 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.

He also praised a 2015 directive from Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei which called on education administrators to allow all Afghan children, documented or not, to attend Iranian schools.

Despite this life for many Afghan refugees in Iran remains a challenge, meaning that many use Iran as a way station on their journey towards seeking asylum in Europe.

The U.N. reported that last year 40,791 Afghans sought asylum in Europe, though most of those will likely be deported back to Afghanistan as the rising tide of Islamophobia pushes even the most liberal government towards increasingly xenophobic policies.