RASC News Agency: Hamideh Mohaddes, Deputy for Social Affairs at the Welfare Organization of Khorasan Razavi in Iran, has announced that 70% of working children in this province are “foreign nationals.” The term “foreign nationals” is predominantly used by Iranian officials to refer to Afghanistani migrants. They note that the number of Afghanistani migrants has surpassed several million, often referring to them broadly as foreign nationals, while specifying the country of origin for other migrants.
In an interview with IRNA News Agency, Mohaddes stated that, based on conducted studies, 30% of the working children are Iranian, while the rest are foreign nationals. Hamideh Mohaddes also mentioned that all working children are identified by related groups or the law enforcement forces of the Islamic Republic. The Deputy for Social Affairs at the Khorasan Razavi Welfare Organization indicated that some of these children are under the protection of service centers. She added that most working children are between the ages of 12 and 14.
Previously, Abdullah Mobeini, Head of the National Migration Organization of Iran, stated that working children who are foreign nationals and undocumented migrants are collected and repatriated to their countries. In March 2024, Mobeini announced that addressing the issue of working children among migrant populations is one of the most pressing concerns for the Iranian government.
Meanwhile, the Young Journalists Club, citing a member of the Tehran City Council, reported that there are about 70,000 working children in Tehran alone, with 80% of them being foreign nationals. Over the past four decades, millions of Afghanistani citizens have migrated to Iran, and a large group of Afghanistanis continues to reside in the country.
It has also been previously reported that Afghanistani children constitute the majority of child laborers in Iran. The educational opportunities for Afghanistani migrant children in Iran are severely limited, which forces many of them into child labor.
