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Part I
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1Afghan refugees in IranThe role of NGOs, INGOs, and humanitarian organizations over the past four decades
Mitra Naseh, Zahra Abtahi and Parisa Azari
DOI: 10.4324/9781003145233-3
Introduction
This chapter reviews the role of national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian agencies over the past four decades in changing policies and supporting one of the largest and most protracted forced migrant groups in the world, Afghan refugees in Iran. By the end of 2019, Afghans constituted over 10% of the total refugee population worldwide (UNHCR 2020a). Although Afghan refugees are spread across more than 80 countries, the majority, approximately 91%, continue to live in the two immediately neighbouring countries to Afghanistan: Iran and Pakistan (UNHCR 2018). According to the latest Global Trends report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2.7 million Afghans are officially registered as refugees worldwide, out of which approximately one million reside in Iran (UNHCR 2020a). Experts believe that the total population of Afghans in Iran is much higher and suggest that while over half a million Afghans live with valid passports or temporary visas in the country, as many as two million Afghans live in Iran as under-documented migrants, or as migrants without legal documents recognized by the government (Naseh et al. 2019b; Shammout and Vandecasteele 2019).
This chapter provides valuable information about Afghan refugees in Iran and refugee-serving organizations in this country. The majority of Afghans live in Iran’s urban areas (Marchand et al. 2014), while between 3% and 5% live in 20 government-run refugee settlements (Rajaee 2000; Barr et al. 2013). This makes Afghans a hard-to-reach population, highlighting the important role of national and international NGOs and humanitarian agencies in service provision for this group. Information presented in this chapter, based on over four decades of service provision for Afghans in Iran, has implications for other groups of refugees around the world, especially urban refugees in protracted exile in developing countries.
The first major wave of forced migration of Afghans to Iran
Instability in Afghanistan started in the mid-1970s with political disputes, aggravated by a communist coup in 1978 and the Soviet Union’s invasion in 1979 (Schmeidl and Maley 2008). These conflicts led to the first major wave of forced migration of Afghans (Faropoulos 2015). During this period, which coincided with the Islamic revolution in the country (Naseh et al. 2018b), Iran promoted sheltering Afghans as helping Muslim brothers and sisters who were struggling to maintain their faith after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Safri 2011). Some argue that Iran’s open-door policy was out of necessity as the newly established revolutionary government of Iran did not have the capacity to process refugee applications at the time and was in desperate need of a human workforce, which Afghans could offer (Esfahani and Hosseini 2018).
Whether out of necessity or a Muslim brotherhood and sisterhood spirit, until 1992, Afghans were welcomed in Iran and could receive “blue cards,” allowing them to stay in Iran as immigrants (mohajerin) indefinitely and to benefit from similar rights as Iranians (Safri 2011; Naseh et al. 2018b). During this period, there was no specific division in service provision for Afghans and Iranians by NGOs and humanitarian agencies. The majority of Afghan refugees in Iran are Farsi/Dari speakers and Shia Muslims, similar to most Iranians (Azizi et al. 2017). The similarities in language and religious beliefs, as well as a long history of shared culture, made integration into Iranian communities easy for Afghans.
The second and third major waves of forced migration of Afghans to Iran
With the rise of the Mujahideen in 1986 (Naseh et al. 2018b), the Soviet Union’s troops withdrew from Afghanistan (Nojumi 2002), and shortly after, struggles over power in the country caused the second major wave of Afghans forced migration (Faropoulos 2015). Not long after the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban, an Islamic group with an oppressive interpretation of Islamic law, emerged and took control of parts of Afghanistan (Ruiz 2004). By 1996, the Taliban assumed control of around 80% of the country (Qadeem 2005), causing more conflicts and the third major wave of forced migration of Afghans (Faropoulos 2015; Naseh et al. 2018b). Iran’s approach towards the second and third waves of Afghan refugees was not as welcoming as towards the first wave.
Starting in 1993, Iran gradually voided the blue cards of the first wave of Afghans and put policies in place to recognize Afghans as refugees. After voiding the blue cards, Iran started registering all Afghans as refugees through temporary registration documents. Despite recognizing Afghans as refugees based on the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, Iran does not abide by the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents countries from returning refugees to their country of origin if doing so would endanger their life. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol are international legal documents defining the term “refugee” and the rights of refugees (UNHCR 2011). Worldwide, 148 States are the signatories of the 1951 Convention or/and its Protocol (UNHCR 2011). Iran is among these State parties but has four reservations on the Convention and its Protocol (Abbasi-Shavazi et al. 2008). The country’s reservation on Article 26 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, pertaining to the freedom of movement, allows it to restrict the movement of Afghan refugees to designated settlements or provinces (Rostami-Povey 2007; Naseh et al. 2019b). Refugees can travel between provinces and stay temporarily in another province if they receive a 14-day permit and if the area they are staying in is not marked as a “no-go-area” for refugees. Iran’s reservations on Articles 17, pertaining to wage earning, and 24, related to labour legislation, allow the country to limit Afghans’ access to Iran’s job market. Male Afghan refugees and, in some cases, female Afghan refugees, between the ages of 18 and 60, can obtain work permits for limited and mainly labour-intensive occupations (Barr et al. 2013). The country’s reservation on Article 23, pertaining to public relief, gradually led to excluding Afghan refugees from most of the country’s subsidized services (Garakani 2009; Barr et al. 2013).
In 1995, Iran closed its border with Afghanistan and started admitting Afghans only if they could prove to have a well-founded fear of persecution as refugees (Garakani 2009). Some researchers believe that the shift in Iran’s policies towards the second and third major waves of Afghan refugees was partly due to the economic burden of hosting millions of forced migrants, and some believe this shift was partly due to security concerns (Rajaee 2000; Rostami-Povey 2007; Esfahani and Hosseini 2018). It can also be argued that by 1993, the new government in Iran could execute close-border policies which it felt the need for in the aftermath of the war with Iraq and while facing economic sanctions and the growing needs of Iran’s baby boomers.
To the Iranian government, recognizing Afghans as refugees implies that this group only needs temporary protection and is expected to eventually return to Afghanistan when it is safe (Margesson 2007; Safri 2011; Naseh et al. 2018b). In line with this perspective, the UNHCR, the largest and the leading international refugee-serving organization in the country, started its repatriation programme in 1992 (Marchand et al. 2014). Identifying Afghans as refugees in Iran occurred concurrently with separating documented Afghans from under- documented Afghans whose presence in the country is considered illegal by the government. In addition to voluntary repatriation, the deportation of under- documented Afghans started to receive attention in the mid-1990s in Iran.
After recognizing Afghans as refugees, the government put limitations on their access to specific services. As a response, national NGOs were established to serve this population, and some organizations started separate programmes to serve them. Among the pioneers of refugee-serving organizations in Iran is the Association for Protection of Refugee Women and Children (HAMI). Established in 1997, HAMI has been providing services for refugee women and children, emphasizing empowerment through education (Association for Protection of Refugee Women and Children n.d.). The Society to Support Children Suffering from Cancer (MAHAK), the Society of Students Against Poverty (SOSAP), and the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV) were among the first NGOs in Iran to initiate separate programmes for Afghans. All these national NGOs later became implementing partners of the government of Iran in serving refugees (Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs 2020).
The fourth major wave of forced migration of Afghans to Iran
While in power, the Taliban sheltered al-Qaeda, an extremist Islamic militant organization, in Afghanistan (Sharp et al. 2002). To remove al-Qaeda as a terrorist group, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), supported by the United States military services and coalition partners, attacked Afghanistan in 2001 (Ender 2010). The ensuing war forced many Afghans to flee the country in the search for safety and created the fourth major wave of Afghans migration (Faropoulos 2015). By the time the fourth wave of Afghan refugees arrived in Iran, the country introduced what are known as Amayesh cards. These cards became and remain the only legal documentation for refugees in Iran (Adelkhah and Olszewska 2007; UNHCR 2015b). Afghan refugees have to pay a fee to renew their Amayesh cards by a particular deadline announced periodically by the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) under the Ministry of Interior. BAFIA began as the entity in charge of Amayesh registration and now is in charge of all refugee issues in Iran (UNHCR 2015a). Starting in 2007, BAFIA stopped issuing new Amayesh cards for under-documented or newly arrived Afghans with some exceptions (Barr et al. 2013). Since this year, failure to renew Amayesh cards can change an Afghan refugee’s status from a documented to an under-documented immigrant and put them at risk of deportation (Naseh et al. 2018b).
As of 2000, the repatriation of documented Afghans and the deportation of under-documented immigrants have become two of the main priorities for the government of Iran. Repatriation has remained mainly voluntary over the years, but in some cases and during some periods, repatriation has been replaced with deportation. In 2002, Iran signed a tripartite agreement with the UNHCR and Afghanistan to join the organized effort to encourage the repatriation of Afghans (Adelkhah and Olszewska 2007; Marchand et al. 2014). In 2011, Iran joined forces with the UNHCR, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and developed the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees to Support Voluntary Repatriation, Sustainable Reintegration, and Assistance to Host Countries (SSAR) through a quadripartite consultative process (UNHCR 2018). The initiation of the SSAR in 2011 created a unique platform for a wide range of international NGOs (INGOs) to start working in Iran. Some of these INGOs only worked briefly in Iran, but some continued their work during the past ten years and are still active in Iran. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) are two main INGOs that started operations in Iran following the initiation of the SSAR. Funding opportunities through the SSAR and Iran’s nuclear deal in 2015, which resulted in a partial lifting of sanctions until 2018, encouraged both national and international NGOs to serve Afghan refugees and create substantial changes in the country. In the following section, we will briefly talk about the role of United Nations (UN) agencies, specifically the UNHCR, and 16 national and international NGOs listed as collaborative partners by BAFIA in serving refugees and enhancing their lives over the past four decades in Iran (Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs 2020).
Services for Afghan refugees
The main focus of services for Afghan refugees in Iran in recent years has remained on repatriation. However, NGOs, INGOS, and humanitarian organizations in the country have had distinctive achievements in enhancing healthcare, education, and the legal rights of Afghans. Among these achievements are universal health insurance, provision of primary education for under-documented children, and changing the law to grant citizenship to the children of Iranian mothers married to Afghans.
Healthcare
Over the years, national and international NGOs, including the Behnam Daheshpour Charity Organization (BDCO), the Rebirth Charity Organization (Rebirth), the Society for Recovery Support (SRS), MAHAK, Chain of Hope, and Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), were active in providing health services free of charge or with reduced fees for Afghans in Iran. Following years of advocacy by these organizations under the leadership of the UNHCR, starting in 2015, Afghan refugees received access to universal public health insurance in Iran. The refugee health insurance scheme was launched through a collaboration between the UNHCR, BAFIA, the Ministry of Health, and the Iran Health Insurance Organization. As part of this initiative, the UNHCR covers parts or all of the premium fees for the enrolment of vulnerable refugees in the health insurance scheme. In addition to having an active health screening and referral system for refugees, UNHCR Iran provides durable rehabilitation equipment for refugees with disabilities (UNHCR 2014). After the start of universal public health insurance, the role of na...
