In recent years, Iran has witnessed a significant shift in the migration patterns of its citizens. According to data released by Bahram Salvati, director of the Iran Migration Observatory, the number of Iranians seeking new lives abroad has surged.
Salvati has released a statement on Jamaran’s website, unveiling fresh statistics on the migration of Iranians. He also indicated that these statistics are derived from the 47th edition of the migration yearbook of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), recently published in connection with Iran.
According to these statistics, in 2020, the number of new Iranian immigrants entering countries in the region was 48,000. However, the latest figures from this yearbook show a remarkable 141% increase, with 115,000 new arrivals in 2021. This makes Iran the country with the highest growth rate in immigration to the region.
Nevertheless, when considering the absolute number of new immigrants, Iran ranks 12th. India takes the lead by sending 407,000 new immigrants to the region, marking an 86% increase from the previous year.
As per Bahram Salvati’s data, Iranian immigrants feature in the top 15 list of nationalities submitting asylum applications in host countries. Iranians have claimed the first position for new asylum applications in Australia with 1,916 applications in 2022, marking a 226% growth compared to 2021’s 846 applications. In Germany, Iranians have submitted 6,320 new applications in 2022, a 234% increase from the 2,695 applications recorded the previous year.
The countries hosting Iranian refugees include Australia, Hungary, Great Britain, Turkey, Latvia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, and Finland, making up the top 10 countries on the list. Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovenia, Japan, Austria, and Belgium follow closely.
Another noteworthy aspect of this data is that Iranians constitute the second-largest group of international students in Italy. In 2021, Italy enrolled a total of 72,000 international students, with Iranians coming second after Chinese students and ahead of Indian students.
Despite the increasing volume of Iranian emigration to various countries worldwide, particularly over the past year, the Iranian regime is employing unconventional methods to deter emigration. In a recent development, the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology has once again raised fees, less than a year after a six-fold increase in the cost of releasing university degrees for graduates.
According to the ministry’s new policy, bachelor’s degree graduates must now pay 40 million tomans per year to release their degrees, while master’s graduates are charged 50 million tomans per year. For those in medical and pharmaceutical fields, the cost is 110 million tomans annually, and for dentistry, it’s 120 million tomans. In other words, medical students must pay a minimum of 500 million tomans to the regime to obtain their degrees.
Furthermore, last summer, as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) candidates were preparing for their exams, the country’s education assessment organization abruptly canceled the test, claiming that the questions had been leaked. This unexpected action, which appears to be intentional and premeditated, disrupted the plans of many students and caused numerous prospective foreign university applicants to miss the opportunity to be accepted.
Prior to this, in January 2022, candidates were informed that all IELTS tests in Iran would be canceled “from March until further notice.”
Despite these measures, the regime has been unable to curb the exodus of talented professionals. This is underscored by a concerning statistic disclosed by the head of the nursing system organization. Approximately 1,500 nurses leave Iran every year. This alarming statistic follows earlier concerns about drug shortages in the country.
