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Executive Summary for May 23rd

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including deportations of Afghans from Iran, the return of Somali refugees from Yemen and an initiative to enroll 6,000 Syrian refugees in higher education in the Middle East.

Published on May 23, 2017 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

130,000 Afghan Refugees Deported From Iran This Year

Iranian authorities have forced almost 130,000 undocumented Afghan refugees from the country this year, Voice of America reported.

“Last week, 7,695 Afghan refugees returned from Iran, 60-65 percent of whom were deported involuntarily,” said Hafiz Ahmad Miakhel, spokesperson for the Afghanistan Ministry of Refugees and Returnees.

He said that more than 150,000 of the 440,000 Afghan refugees who left Iran last year were also forcibly returned home. “The involuntary deportation is a clear violation of bilateral and trilateral agreements,” he added.

The deportations are straining the capacity of Afghan authorities and aid groups to resettle the returnees, Kabul has warned.

The returns are part of Iran’s plan to repatriate 600,000 of the 2 million Afghans estimated to live in the country by the end of 2017.

Recently re-elected Iranian president Hassan Rouhani pledged last year to provide undocumented Afghan refugees with legal status in the country, but has yet to implement the measure.

UNCHR: More Somali Refugees Try to Return From Yemen

An increasing number of Somali refugees in Yemen are approaching the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) for assistance to return to Somalia.

Some 30,600 Somali refugees have left Yemen since war broke out in the country in 2015. There are an estimated 280,000 refugees in the country, around 91 percent of them from Somalia.

UNHCR said more refugees are asking the agency for support to return due to fear for their safety and lack of services in Yemen as conditions worsen by the day.

“Most refugees opt to return to Mogadishu, in the anticipation that assistance and services will be more accessible and available,” said UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch.

The U.N. provides official documents, travel expenses and financial assistance to ease their transition to life in Somalia and has the capacity to help 10,000 refugees.

Initiative Aims to Enroll 6,000 Syrian Refugees in Higher Education

A partnership between Qatari and Dutch education NGOs aims to enroll some 6,000 Syrian refugees in higher education courses in the Middle East.

Qatar-based Al Fakhoora and the Dutch organization Spark plan to scale up their current partnership, which assists 600 Syrian higher-education students.

Under the expanded program, Syrians in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and parts of Syria can enroll in reconstruction, health care and hygiene, among other various academic and vocational courses from September.

“It is important that these skills are transferable if and when these young people go back,” executive director of Al Fakhoora, Farooq Burney, told the Associated Press.

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