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Tehran, Dec 2, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday rejected any forcible repatriation of the Afghan refugees living in Iran.
In reaction to a claim made by a UNHCR official that Iran exerts pressure on the Afghan refugees to return home, Asefi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has hosted the Afghan refugees for more than 20 years. Iran supports the voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees, he said.
Iran is a vanguard in offering humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people on the one hand and provision of transportation facilities for relief agencies to help carry food and emergency aid to Afghanistan on the other, he said.
Helping the Afghan people in the current humanitarian crisis is the concern of the Iranian government and nation, Asefi said.
He said that Iran has formed a tripartite committee with the Islamic government of Afghanistan and the Tehran office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work out a joint program for voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees living in Iran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has close cooperation with UNHCR and supports the plan to help the Afghan refugees willing to voluntarily go back home. Of course the plan is being implemented in coordination with the respective international agency," he said.
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