UN praises Iran’s refugee resettlement program, tells US to take note

The UN has said that the US could learn a lot from the Iranian model of resettling refugees.

The Soviet War in Afghanistan displaced six million people to neighbouring Iran and Pakistan in 1979. Almost four decades later, the Tehran government still shelters around one million registered Afghans, and up to two million are thought to also be living in the country – making Iran home to the world’s fourth largest refugee population, The Independent explained.

“The leadership demonstrated by the Iranian government has been exemplary in hosting refugees and keeping borders open,” Sivanka Dhanapala, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Tehran, said on Wednesday.

“It’s a story that’s not told often enough.”

“In a world where you have multiple bad stories about hosting refugees, I think Iran is really a good news story,” Mr Dhanapala added.

Mr Dhanapala also highlighted that the refugees Iran has taken in are a result of US interventions in the Middle East.