VZCZCXRO3303
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0034/01 1711440
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 191440Z JUN 08
FM RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0284
INFO RUEHDIR/RPO DUBAI 0276
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 0245
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0213
RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RPO DUBAI 000034 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR GAYLE, BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD 
BAKU FOR HAUGEN, ISTANBUL FOR ODLUM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/19/2018 
TAGS: IR PGOV PHUM PREF AF
SUBJECT: IRAN COMPLAINS OF BURDEN OF AFGHAN IMMIGRANTS 
 
DUBAI 00000034  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns, Director, Iran Regional Presence 
Office, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
1.(S) Summary:  Iranian officials frequently complain that the 
influx of illegal Afghan immigrants into Iran since the U.S.-led 
war in Afghanistan broke out in 2001 creates an economic burden 
that Iran can no longer bear.  At a conference on immigrants in 
April, Iranian government officials said that Afghans make up 
91% of the refugee population in Iran.  Iranian officials 
dispute UNHCR figures of Afghan immigrants at close to 1 
million, claiming that Iran plays host to roughly 3 million 
Afghans.  It calculates the cost to the country at $2 day each, 
or $6 million a day, and calls UNHCR's grant to Iran of a $1 
million per annum grossly inadequate.  An Iranian who until 
recently worked for UNICEF in Iran said that illegal Afghan 
immigrants, once deported, promptly return via Sistan va 
Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran.  Some provincial 
officials have decided to take matters into their own hands.  As 
of June 21, Gilan province in northern Iran will reportedly ban 
Afghan citizens from working and traveling in its borders.  End 
Summary. 
 
UN recognition 
 
-------------- 
 
2.(U) January 2008 UNHCR figures put the Afghan population in 
Iran at 894,000, second only to Pakistan as a host.  Officials 
from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World 
Food Program (WFP) praised Iran in June for its assistance to 
Afghan refugees.  IRNA reported June 17 that UNHCR 
representative in Iran Carlos Zaccagnini as said, "We respect 
the grave burden shouldered by the Iranian 
government...Unfortunately, we could not fulfill our promises 
but the international community is serious to render more aid to 
Iran...Iran's actions in dealing with the issue of refugees, 
especially the Afghans, are very admirable."  Zaccagnini urged 
UNHCR to give Iran more assistance.  Separately, Fars News 
reported June 16 that WFP Regional Director for the Middle East 
and Central Asia Naila Sabra told Iranian press in Rome, "I 
personally thank the Iranian government for accepting over one 
million Afghan refugees into the country...We have long been 
witnessing humanitarian efforts graciously made by Iran to help 
its neighbors." 
 
Real number of Afghans? 
 
----------------------- 
 
3.(U) Iran's envoy to the Food and Agriculture Organization told 
the WFP that more than 97% of Afghan refugees in Iran are not 
covered by the WFP food assistance program because they live 
outside official migrant camps where aid agencies can access 
them, as reported by Fars News June 14.  He said that out of the 
more than 1 million Afghan refugees in Iran, fewer than 27,000 
Afghan refugees live in camps.  He noted that severe droughts 
and rising global food prices have put refugees living outside 
of camps throughout the world, including in Iran, in a 
vulnerable position. 
 
4.(U) Counting both legal and illegal Afghan residents in Iran, 
then Iranian Interior Minister Pourmohammadi told an immigration 
conference in April that more than 3 million Afghan nationals 
live in Iran, some of whom have been in Iran three decades.  He 
said that "international organizations do not offer real help 
for solving the problems of these immigrants in Iran." 
Pourmohammadi claimed that of the $12 million allocated by the 
UN to assist Afghan refugees in Iran annually, only $1 million 
is given to the Iranian government and the remainder is used to 
cover the cost of UN offices in Iran. 
 
5.(U) Director-General of the Foreign Ministry's department for 
foreign nationals and refugees affairs, Taqi Qaemi, was quoted 
in press saying that UNHCR's $1 million assistance is grossly 
inadequate, when one considers that at a very minimum, Iran 
spends $2 per refugee, per day, times 3 million Afghans - 
resulting in a daily $6 million dollar price tag. 
 
6.(U) Qaemi said that 91% of refugees in Iran are from 
Afghanistan.  He claimed that the high influx of refugees has 
resulted in a host of problems for Iran, in addition to the 
economic burden, including: "illegal" marriages, orphaned 
children, and the trafficking of drugs, humans, and weapons. 
 
 
DUBAI 00000034  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Greater crackdowns 
 
------------------ 
 
7.(S) An Iranian who until recently worked for UNICEF to 
establish "health posts" and literacy programs for Afghan 
refugees claimed that Iran started cracking down on illegal 
immigrants after it did not receive promised additional funding 
from the UN.  She said the refugee issue puts politicians in a 
difficult position as immigrants are seen as "eating up" money 
that could go to nationals.  Another reason for greater 
crackdowns and increased deportations, surmised the former UN 
employee, could be Ahmadinejad himself.  While serving as Tehran 
mayor, she said, he took a harder stance on immigration -- 
firing Afghan refugees working as janitors in Tehran 
municipality because he wanted the jobs to go to unemployed 
Iranians. 
 
8.(S) A June 17 report from Fars News claimed that 103 illegal 
Afghans were rounded up in Sistan-va Baluchestan in 24 hours but 
did not say whether they would be deported.  The former UNICEF 
employee said that once deported, illegal Afghan immigrants 
often return to Iran via the border of the southeastern Sistan 
va Baluchestan province. 
 
9.(U) Gilan province (located on the Caspian Sea) has reportedly 
decided to try to ban Afghans.  According to Fars News, the 
Director General of the Gilan province Bureau of Aliens and 
Foreign Immigrant Affairs Hamidreza Mohebbi recently announced 
that all residency permits and identity cards for Afghans in 
Gilan will be invalid as of June 21.  He added that Gilan "will 
be one of the provinces in which Afghan citizens are barred from 
living or traveling."  (Note:  We have seen nothing to indicate 
whether such a rule can be implemented or whether other 
provinces are following suit.  Endnote).  "Due to permanent 
nature of the ban on the presence of Afghans in Gilan province, 
all managers particularly, real estate agents, employers and 
contractors should refrain from any dealings related to property 
rentals and employment," said Mohebbi. 
 
Better workers 
 
-------------- 
 
10.(S) Despite Ahmadinejad's desire to employ more Iranians, an 
Iranian construction business owner in Tehran said he preferred 
Afghan laborers because they are better workers.  The 
businessman dismissed as negligible the impact of rising labors 
costs associated with the deportation of Afghan laborers in the 
construction sector (reftel).  While his labor costs have 
increased by 20% due to the expulsions of Afghans, he said this 
increase is minuscule compared to skyrocketing costs of 
construction materials. 
 
11.(S) The contractor, who only works in Tehran, was also 
dismissive of enforcement of labor laws.  He said the Ministry 
of Labor is the only entity that has the jurisdiction to control 
work permits while Afghans are physically on a construction 
site.  While the ministry sometimes will fine companies 
employing illegal Afghans, they often accept bribes to overlook 
illegal workers.  The police, he added, can only "hassle" 
illegal immigrants when they are not at work. 
 
12.(C) Comment:  As Iran's economy continues to decline, and oil 
and food costs rise, the costs of supporting a large refugee 
population will continue to climb, and Iran is likely to 
continue to try to expel Afghan refugees.  If Gilan province is 
actually successful in driving out all Afghans, as impossible as 
that sounds, it is possible that other provinces could follow 
suit.  It is noteworthy that Iranian officials included illegal 
immigration as a top concern that they would like to discuss in 
its recent proposed package to the P5+1 for constructive 
negotiations. 
BURNS