According to the UNHCR, in October 2020, before the fall of President Ashraf Ghani's government, the Islamic Republic of Iran was hosting 800,000 Afghans who have been granted refugee status, as well as some 2.25 million additional Afghans in an irregular situation. Various estimates indicate that the Afghan population in Iran has grown by several hundred thousand people since last August.
This humanitarian emergency has been coupled with the impact of COVID-19 in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to WHO data , at 11 January 2021, the Islamic Republic of Iran has reported 6,204,512 cases of COVID-19 and there have been more than 131,847 deaths from the disease.
Faced with this situation, the Islamic Republic of Iran launched an appeal for help through the European Civil Protection Mechanism requesting 6,000,000 vaccines against COVID-19 for the Afghan population living in the country. Spain, in a show of solidarity with the country in the fight against the pandemic and in recognition of the important role it is playing in the reception of Afghan refugees, has responded with the delivery today in Tehran of 2,204,000 AstraZeneca vaccines.
With this donation, Spain fulfils the commitment to donate at least two million vaccines to humanitarian contexts made by the President of the Government of Spain on 8 November at the event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
Likewise, this donation, which is part of the so-called "Team Europe" and is co-financed by the EU's European Civil Protection Mechanism, is another sign of Spain's firm commitment to international vaccine donations, having already donated more than 50 million doses, making it the sixth largest donor in the world and the second largest in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Finally, this donation is also a clear demonstration of solidarity with the Afghan people.
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