By 2018, more than 70 million people have been forced to leave their home countries due to war and conflict or natural disasters. The global population of refugees has increased to more than 25 million by 2018. Iran is hosting a large number of forced migrants and refugees for more than four decades, mostly due to civil war and conflicts in neighboring countries, particularly Afghanistan and Iraq. Forced Migration and Refugee research group in “Iran Migration Observatory” aims to address the issue of refugees and forced migration in Iran with a policymaking and governance approach. The main goals of this group are:

• Observing trends of forced migrants and asylum in the world and studying on the experiences of the refugee host countries in the world.
• Observing the trends of forced migration and asylum in Iran and in neighboring countries by focusing on Afghanistan and Iraq and understanding the current and future status of forced migrants in the region.
• Conducting researches on economic, social and cultural issues of forced migrants and refugees in Iran, e.g. desire to on-migration, return or remaining in Iran and studying economic impacts of immigrants in Iran’s labor market, remittances, etc.
• Conducting training courses, conferences, lectures and summer school in both national and international level to present the latest findings in the field of forced migration and asylum.
• Presenting research-based policies and guidelines for policy makers and institutions in the field of forced migration and asylum.