In line with the guidelines of Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, educational facilities have been provided to more than 80,000 children of both legal and illegal foreign refugees during 2014 and 2015, said director general of Interior Ministry’s Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs.

Ahmad Mohammadifar said, “We established one class for every 30 foreign pupils during the period, thus the total of 2,600 classes have been added to the country’s educational capacity.”

The official noted that 250 schools should be constructed nationwide to meet the educational requirements of foreign refugees, adding 30 schools have so far been established in cooperation with the UN in 2016.

He added that more than 330 children of foreign nationals received education in Iranian schools before 2014.

Mohammadifar said immigrants made up four percent of Iran’s population, adding based on figures released by the UN, Iran is the world’s fourth destination for foreign refugees.

“About 11 percent of Afghan population, which is roughly three million legal and illegal refugees, are living in Iran”, he said, underlining that healthcare facilities are also available to all refugees.

He said free health insurance coverage has been extended for 114,000 foreign nationals residing in Iran, adding ground has been prepared to increase the figure to 800,000.

/ Iran Daily /