Iranians Emigrate As Governance Fails - Report
Iranians are emigrating from the country fleeing political and economic instability, with the UAE top of the list, a 600-page report issued in Tehran says.
Iranians are emigrating from the country fleeing political and economic instability, with the UAE top of the list, a 600-page report issued in Tehran says.
Systematic corruption has also been a key factor for migration among the two groups of university students and graduates, and doctors and nurses. Sanctions and the falling national currency as well as inflation are the main factors affecting “businesspeople.”
In its latest annual outlook, Iran Migration Observatory says the UAE hosts the highest number of Iranians living abroad with over 450,000 Iranian-born residents, followed by the US, Canada, Germany, Turkey and the UK, as Iranians seek a better quality of life.
Although a report published in Iran cannot openly blame the political environment as a reason for migration, lack of social freedoms and the discriminatory nature of the authoritarian clerical political system also play a major role to drive young people out of the country.
A “lack of opportunities to be influential”, “feeling useless in the country”, and “lack of a promising prospect for the future” strengthen the motivation for migration and push people to actively plan for their emigration, the observatory said.
The number of Iranians living in Turkey has increased five-fold during the past seven years to stand at about 155,000. Based on international statistics, the report claims that more than two million Iranians are living abroad. However, the High Council of Iranian Affairs Abroad, an affiliate of the country’s Foreign Ministry, put the number at over four million people.
The report published in December covering 2022 also said that potential for growth and salaries were among other factors driving people out.
The risk of brain drain is also high as Iran fails to invest in key jobs of the future and technologies which surround that such as robotics, cloud computing and blockchain. The report called it “a chronic policy confusion,” and a crisis awaiting the human resources of the country.
Citing international databases, the document says Iran ranked 54th in terms of the number of migrants leaving the country. In terms of students going abroad to continue their studies, Iran ranked 17th.
Nationwide antigovernment protests since September and a further deterioration in economic conditions appear to have encourages more professionals to leave.
Oman is also emerging as a new favorite destination. During the past year about 30,000 personnel of different medical professions, including doctors, nurses, and paramedical technicians, have applied for Certificates of Good Standing with intent to immigrate to Oman.
In April, Iran's Medical Council said about 4,000 doctors have applied for Certificates of Good Standing in the previous 12 months with the intent to leave the country. Council spokesman Reza Laripour said that the annual number of such applications was less than 600 between 2013 and 2015.
Ramezan Ali Sangdovini, representing Gorgan told Rouydad24 website that "Iran is overwhelmed by mismanagement." He added that "even those neighboring countries that are affected by wars are doing better than us."
Iran’s currency, rial, dropped to unprecedented lows right before the Nowruz, creating more chaos and despair for a population which has lost most of its purchasing power since 2018, because of US sanctions and a mismanaged economy.
Sangdovini stressed that "mismanagement is seriously endangering the integrity and authority of Iran's political system." He added: "Iran has no problem in resources and capital. All our problems are caused by mismanagement of resources.”
He reiterated that most of government managers are not fit for the positions they hold. Furthermore, the way they treat the people is less than perfect. Sangdovini said that the government cannot manage the falling national currency, rising prices and inflation rate.
He dismissed official comments about the "enemy's role in rising prices," and said the government is responsible. "The price of items such as dairy and gasoline is absolutely under the government's control. But it is not clear why the government refuses to keep the price of these items low."
He warned the government that currently a large part of the population cannot afford to buy a kilo of meat. He added that the government has refused to send ministers to the parliament to answer lawmakers. The only solution for the Majles is to impeach the ministers," Sangdovini said.
Earlier, some lawmakers, including former nuclear chief Fereydoun Abbasi had said that the country's economic situation can only get worse, adding that the government lacks the will and authority to solve the problem.
Many politicians and commentators have been urging the regime to reach an agreement with the United States over its nuclear dispute and try to remove crippling sanctions, but so far talks with the West remain suspended.
Meanwhile, another lawmaker, Jalal Mahmoudzadeh told reporters that the only way to sort out Iran's economic chaos is to summon President Ebrahim Raisi to the parliament. "Not only there has not been any progress in fixing the economic since Raisi took office in 2021, but the country has even lost ground in some areas as a result of the government's inefficiency."
He added that the parliament should deal with the matter and step in to sort out the problem once and for all. "We should summon Raisi to the Majles and question him and demand convincing answers from him; and if we are not convinced, then we should use the parliament's supervisory leverage," meaning to impeach the President. "He is the chief executive and should be accountable for the current situation," Mohammadzadeh said.
He reminded that when Raisi took office, he promised to control inflation and boost the national currency. He also promised to create four million jobs during the four years of his presidency. We see that not only none of these have happened, but Iranians lost 10 million jobs because of restrictions the government has imposed on access to the Internet. This comes while based on Raisi's promises, he should have created 1.5 million new jobs during this period.
Meanwhile, Mohammadzadeh warned lawmakers that if they fail to make Raisi accountable for his poor performance, their own electability will be at risk in the next parliamentary election in 2024.
Challenges posed by Iran continue to grow, forcing the Biden administration to take more of a hands-on approach to the regime than it possibly wanted.
While Iran supplies drones and reportedly other weapons to Russia, its proxy forces attacked US bases in Syria last week, with the US launching a rare retaliatory strike, but emphasizing its goal of avoiding a wider conflict with Tehran.
The WSJ reported Monday that Moscow’s burgeoning military cooperation with Tehran includes a plan to help its sanctioned ally’s cyberwarfare capabilities, according to the Journal’s sources.
The US State Department has avoided a direct response to the report. Deputy spokesperson of the US State Department Vedant Patel was asked during his press briefing Monday to react though strangely, said he had not seen it, although the article was published hours before the briefing took place.
Patel did, however, publicly comment that there is no doubt about the concern felt in the White House. “What I will say is that of course Russia’s deepening of relationships with malign actors like Iran continues to be a deep concern,” he said.
He added, “We have seen the havoc caused by Iranian-made drones that Russia has unleashed on Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure, so of course this relationship is one that we are paying close attention to.”
Iran, which never condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, began supplying kamikaze drones to its ally in mid-2022. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned in mid-July that Russia was seeking to obtain Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from the Islamic Republic.
The first Iranian drones were used by Russia in noticeable numbers in October and first evidence of a UAV downed by Ukraine emerged on October 6.
The WSJ quoted sources as saying that Russia has been providing Iran with communication, surveillance and eavesdropping capabilities, photography devices and lie detectors from the start of the war in Ukraine.
This is when talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran broke up, despite intense Western efforts to reach a compromise with Iran. In August, the European Union offered one final plan that according to Washington Tehran did not accept, by putting forth new unacceptable demands.
It is not clear to what extent Russia’s technical assistance is geared toward boosting military capabilities or Iran’s policing resources against dissidents. Surveillance technology in many cases can have dual use too. Tehran already has an extensive system of digital surveillance over its population much like China and it widely censors the internet.
As local media is under heavy government control, Iranians rely on messaging apps to receive news and exchange information. This becomes even more crucial during protests, when news about rallies and gatherings becomes a mobilization tool for protesters.
The government banned Instagram, the one accessible major platform last year to prevent communication between the people and news reaching the outside world about the protests.
Seeing this as insufficient, authorities also resorted to denying access to the Internet in wide swaths of the country for months, hurting millions of people who relied on digital commerce to make a living.
China has also been assisting Iran’s digital surveillance programs. In December, the United States blacklisted China’s Tiandy Technologies for supplying video surveillance equipment to the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
Western countries, Israel and Saudi Arabia have in the past reported frequent Iranian cyber-attacks on government and private institutions. Social media giants Facebook and Twitter have closed thousands of fake Iranian accounts for spreading disinformation.
What this means for Iranians and for wider geo-politics is yet to be seen, but what is clear, is that the desire for Biden to quietly leave the Middle East behind, is ever-more unlikely.