Iran Coerces Afghan Reftigees to Return to Afghanistan in Violafion of tnt ,. http://p1 'siciarisforhuniairig l ls.org/ library/2002-08-08.lt
PHR Home> PHR Library
My PHR/ Log In
WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO
PHR
Physicians for
Human Rights
PHR LIBRARY
Search by:
Document Type
Issue
Country
L!9J
Keyword Search :
key word R3O
PHR e-newsletter
Subscribe now
Get PHR news
releases by email
Subscribe now
PHR CAMPAIGNS
DONATE GET INVOLVED RESOURCES PRESS STUDENTS SEARCH
Printer Friendly
Send to a friend
PHR Library
August 8, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Iran Coerces Afghan Refugees to Return to Afghanistan
in Violation of International Agreements; Areas of
Return Insecure
Media Contacts:
Nathaniel Raymond
info phrusa.org
Tel: (617) 301-4200
In vioLation of internationaL agreements, Afghan refugees Living in Iran
have been toLd this week that they must Leave the country by August
20 or they wiLL be forced to Leave, according to dozens of interviews
conducted with returnees on the Afghan/Iran border crossing at IsLam
QaLa by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). The Tripartite Agreement,
signed in ApriL 2002, by the governments of Iran and Afghanistan and
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), states
that aLL repatriation must be voLuntary.
The Boston- based group aLso Learned that some Afghan chiLdren Living
in Iran were not being aLLowed to register for schooL in the faLL, aLso in
vioLation of internationaL agreements ratified or acceded to by Iran
such as the Convention on the Rights of the ChiLd and the 1951
Convention ReLating to the Status of Refugees.
According to sources on the Afghan/Iran border, over the past severaL
weeks there has been a substantiaL increase in the numbers of peopLe
crossing the border (thousands of famiLies). Coerced or forced
repatriation of Large numbers of refugees to an unstabLe humanitarian
situation wiLL have significant consequences. Returning Afghan
refugees wiLL LikeLy end up in InternaLLy DispLaced Persons (IDP) camps
and overwheLm the Limited resources of food, water, and sheLter in
Afghanistan and the aLready devastated heaLth system, the medicaL
group said. Furthermore, the security situation, particuLarLy in the
North and the West, documented by PHR and others, has been
unstabLe. In May 2002, a PHR survey of internaLLy dispLaced Afghans
from the Shaidayee Camp in Herat study showed a shocking
prevaLence of attacks against ethnic Pashtuns and ongoing deprivation
of basic needs.
“The refugees are being forced into a revoLving door that may
ø 7 ' Health
-, . I Act j p
Campa g
1 of 3
03/08 2010 13:36
Iran Coerces Afghan Reftigees to Return to Afghanistan in Violafion of tnt ,, http://p1 'siciarisforhuniarrig l ls.org/ library/2002-08-08 , lt
uLtimateLy Lead them back into refugee status in Iran or eLsewhere,
said Dr. Lynn Amowitz, PHR Senior MedicaL Researcher, currentLy in
Afghanistan.
On August 5, a message to the refugees to Leave Afghanistan was
broadcast in Iran on state-run TV and radio and printed in newspapers.
I was forced to Leave by the Iranian authority. If I did not choose to
Leave, they said that we wouLd be removed by force. Twenty-five days
ago, we were aLL coLLected into the mosque at the headquarters of the
poLice. The chief of foreign affairs, toLd us that we must Leave and
that our chiLdren couLd not be registered in the schooLs for the next
term, said a 35-year-oLd Afghan maLe Living in Bandarabus, Iran for six
years, originaLLy from KabuL.
The Tripartite Agreement was signed in Geneva in ApriL 2002 by the
governments of Iran, Afghanistan and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
It Lays down the main LegaL and operationaL framework for the
voLuntary return of Afghan refugees in Iran. ArticLe 5 of the Agreement
states: The Parties hereby reaffirm that the repatriation of Afghan
refugees and dispLaced persons in Iran shaLL take pLace at their freeLy
expressed wish based on their knowLedge of the conditions reLating to
voLuntary repatriation and the situation in intended pLaces to return.
The VoLuntary character of the repatriation shaLL be fuLLy respected.
According to the Convention ReLating to the Status of Refugees (1951),
no contracting state shaLL expeL or return refouLer a refugee in any
manner whatsoever to the frontiers or territories where his Life or
freedom wouLd be threatened on account of his race, reLigion,
nationaLity, membership of a particuLar sociaL group.
ALso, the Convention states that the contracting states shaLL accord
to refugees the same treatment as is accorded to nationaLs with
respect to eLementary education. Iran acceded to the Convention on
JuLy 28, 1976. ArticLe 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the ChiLd
caLLs on state parties to recognize the right of the chiLd to education
and make primary education compuLsory and avaiLabLe free to aLL.
Iran ratified the CRC on JuLy 13 1994.
Physicians for Human Rights caLLs on the Government of Iran to take
immediate action to ensure the termination of aLL invoLuntary
repatriation practices and to respect the provisions of the
internationaL human rights Law and agreements to which it is bound.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions to
advance the health and dignity of all people by protecting human
rights. As a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban
Landmines, PHR shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.
Date posted: February 22, 2007
Last updated: May 27, 2010
2 of 3 03/08 2010 13:36
Iran Coerces Afghan Reftigees to Return to Afghanistan in Violafion of tnt ,. http://p1 'siciarisforhuniairig l ls.org/ library/2002-08-08. lt
A TO TOP OF PAGE
About PHR I Donate I Action Center I Investigations I Forensic Program I Asylum Program
Press I Students I Library I Contact PHR I Privacy Policy I 0 RSS Feeds
© Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) 2009
Physicians for Human Rights, 2 Arrow Street, Suite 301, Cambridge, MA 02138 I Tel 617.301.4200 I Fax 617.301.4250
3 of 3 03/08 2010 13:36
