IRIN
AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Campaign brings together Afghan officials and refugees
15 June 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

TEHRAN, 15 June (IRIN) - A delegation of government officials from the 
western Afghan province of Herat has recently visited the city of Mashad 
in eastern Iran as part of an information campaign to raise the 
awareness of Afghans living in Iran about the situation in their 
homeland.

High ranking Afghan officials, including the ministers of refugees and 
repatriation, education, labour and social affairs and the deputy health 
minister, travelled to the eastern Iranian province of Khorasan. The 
trip was part of a 'Come and Talk' programme sponsored by the office of 
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Iran's 
Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA).

"The aim was to inform Afghans here about living conditions in Herat 
city and Herat province, in order to enable them, to inform them if they 
want to decide to return to Afghanistan voluntarily," said Ghassem 
Mehraeen, senior mass information clerk at the UNHCR office in Mashad.

About 600 Afghans participated in the 'Come and Talk' programme, 
including women and children. There were also four meetings with 
different focus groups. These were with Mashad-based journalists, Afghan 
health officials, Afghans involved in education and one meeting with 
investors, mostly Iranians eager to start business ventures in 
Afghanistan.

Khorasan is home to the second largest population of Afghans in Iran 
with some 160,000 registered Afghans, around 16 percent of the total 
number of registered Afghans living in the country.

Mehraeen said the main concern for Afghans returning were health 
facilities, particularly medical facilities for mothers and children. 
Afghans also complained of the lack of education facilities in their 
home country, with teachers saying that Afghan bureaucracy was 
preventing them from returning.

"The Minister of Education said that about 6,000 teachers are needed in 
the Herat province alone," said Mehraeen. "A major complaint from Afghan 
teachers here is the red tape in Afghanistan. Each teacher must go to 
[the capital] Kabul in person to have the Ministry of Education (MoE) 
verify their documents. It's very difficult, especially for lone females 
to go to Kabul, where they have no accommodation," Mehraeen said, adding 
that the delegation said they would follow up these complaints. 
According to Mehraeen, many Afghans want to go home but say they are 
worried about a lack of employment and shelter in Afghanistan.

"Last year the lowest number of returnees were from this province. Most 
Afghans here are well rooted and have been here [in Iran] for a long 
time, sometimes two generations. Children have been raised and born 
here. Many Afghans have businesses here and there are even mixed 
marriages with Iranians, so it is difficult for them to leave," he said.

According to UNHCR, 60 percent of registered Afghans living in Iran have 
been there for more than 15 years. The repatriation process in Iran 
takes place within the framework of a tripartite agreement, known as the 
Joint Programme.

The main aims of the Joint Programme are to ensure that repatriation is 
voluntary, takes place with dignity and is bolstered by assistance 
towards reintegration once in Afghanistan. The most recent tripartite 
agreement between Iran, Afghanistan and UNHCR expired in March. A new 
agreement has been agreed in principle but has yet to be signed by 
Tehran.


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +90 312 454 1177
Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org

[This Item is Delivered to the "Asia-English" Service of the UN's IRIN 
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views 
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or 
to change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web: 
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this 
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial 
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central Asia                  www.cidi.org/humanitarian/hsr/centralasia