TEHRAN, May 11 (UPI) -- Tehran has requested the help of the international aid community to deal with the flood of mostly Afghan refugees in the country, U.N. reports said.
The Iranian Interior Ministry, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Consortium for Refugees in Iran hosted a conference on the plight of refugees in the country, calling on non-governmental organizations to establish a presence in the country and provide aid to the millions of Afghans and others living in Iran.
Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Abbas Mohtaj said several refugees have lived in Iran for decades. Some aid groups have slowly left Iran due to difficult working conditions. Mohtaj said, however, it was time for their return as "repatriation is becoming more and more problematic," the U.N. humanitarian news agency, IRIN, reports.
Mohtaj said assistance was needed as Iran currently hosts the second-largest refugee population in the world.
Iran has moved in a bilateral fashion to offer assistance to Afghanistan as the international community puts renewed focus on stabilizing the war-torn nation and the war in Iraq winds down.
