Overall, despite such housing projects and construction over the years, Iran still has housingrelated problems, including the lack of affordable housing, especially for low-income and vulnerable individuals, many of whom are members of ethnic minorities. Reportedly, lowincome families in Iran struggle to find housing opportunities that provide the most basic human necessities like sanitation, running water and heat.24 In Khuzestan, a province where 32% of its urban and 26% of its rural population lived under the poverty line in 2015, a high number of Ahwazi Arabs live in informal settlements due to displacement. These settlements are known for lacking basic living conditions, such as a functioning sewage system, electricity, medical facilities and even schools.25 Due to underdevelopment in provinces with largely ethnic minority populations, members of ethnic groups such as Balouch, Arabs and Kurds often have limited access to education. School facilities are often inadequate for hosting children due to the various safety and health risks associated with their use.26 Additionally, there is often a scarcity of schools in these regions, forcing students to use transportation to go to school, which not everyone can afford.27 Official State figures from 2017 showed that 25,000 to 30,000 children in Sistan and Balouchestan province did not receive an education that year, but this number could be closer to 120,000.28 Ethnic minorities, including Arabs, Azerbaijani Turks, Balochis and Kurds, also have faced targeted discrimination on the basis of their ethnic identity and are generally side-lined from employment and general public services, including education and health care.29 For instance, the use of minority languages are effectively restricted under the Constitution, notably in schools where the teaching of a minority language is only permitted for literature classes. The Ministry of Education has reportedly circulated reminders to teachers and school administrators that the use of Kurdish and Turkish languages inside public schools is forbidden.30 In 2016, up to 40,000 Ahwazi Arab children reportedly were denied access to education for failing the Farsi language 24 https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/iranians-struggle-afford-housing-prices-soar-190730150209889.html https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-and-religious-minorities-inIran.pdf 26 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (2012), page 14: https://unpo.org/downloads/437.pdf 27 Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (2012), pages 14-15: https://unpo.org/downloads/437.pdf 28 Centre for Human Rights in Iran, ‘Impoverished children without identification documents deprived of education in Iran,’ 22 July 2017. 29 Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human Rights in Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf; and Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-and-religiousminorities-in-Iran.pdf 30 Minority Rights Group, https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rights-Denied-Violations-against-ethnic-andreligious-minorities-in-Iran.pdf 25 5