To address the high number of street children, the Iranian authorities together with the State
Welfare Organisation have been resorting to periodic ‘roundups’ of street children, during which
they are frequently separated from their families and put into facilities.9 If these children are
found on the street for the third time during these ‘round-ups’, they are removed from their
parent’s custody. 10 In 2017, the Interior Minister announced that ‘round-ups’ would focus on
sending street children to schools and other centers in order to be educated, although such plan
reportedly raised criticism within the parliament and the Tehran’s City Council.11 Child rights
organisations have been reportedly criticising ‘round-ups’ on the basis that their securitised
approach does not address the social and economic root causes of the issue, ultimately leading
children to return to the street.12 13 According to these organisations, ‘collected’ children are
being kept in inappropriate centers with limited space and lacking care services.14 15 There is no
official and readily available information that might indicate that the ‘round-ups’ of street
children have been successful in addressing the number of children living and/or working in the
street.16 17 In its General Comment No.21 on children in street situations, the Committee on the
Rights of the Child stipulates that States should “abolish any provisions allowing or supporting
the round-up or arbitrary removal of children and their families from the streets or public
places”.18
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran together with the Social Welfare Organisation
(SWO) provide a number of basic services for vulnerable children, including street children. In
its 2019 National Report to the Universal Periodic Review, the Government stated that “the
center for management of street children of SWO, with the participation of interested NGOs,
provides free protection and welfare services, with two family-centered and of mental-social
harm reduction approaches.” 19 Additionally, the “Social Emergency of SWO, with its 350
centers throughout the country, provides a variety of supportive services to the child victims of
violence or to the children exposed to maltreatment, child laborers and the street children under
difficult and hard conditions”. 20 However, it is unclear whether these centers provide assistance
tailored specifically to children in street situations. Additionally, there is no information that
9
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/Days-to-remember-low.pdf
Radio Farda, https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-child-labor-homeless-abuse/29193727.html
11
Ibid.
12
ISNA News, https://www.isna.ir/news/96070301939/ﮐﻮدک-ﮐﺎر-ﺑﺎ-اﻗﺘﺼﺎد-روﺳﯿﺎھﯽ
13
Radio Farda, https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-child-labor-homeless-abuse/29193727.html
14
Organisation for Defending Victims of Violence, http://www.odvv.org/blog-2140-The-Child-Labour-and-Street-ChildrenProblem
15
ISNA News, https://www.isna.ir/news/96070301939/ﮐﻮدک-ﮐﺎر-ﺑﺎ-اﻗﺘﺼﺎد-روﺳﯿﺎھﯽ
16
Transnationality of Child Poverty: The Case of Iranian and Afghan Street Children in Tehran, Research paper published on
Research Gate,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318729333_Transnationality_of_Child_Poverty_The_Case_of_Iranian_and_Afghan_St
reet_Children_in_Tehran
17
ISNA News, https://www.isna.ir/news/96070301939/ﮐﻮدک-ﮐﺎر-ﺑﺎ-اﻗﺘﺼﺎد-روﺳﯿﺎھﯽ
18
General Comment No.21 on children in street situations, Committee on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/GC/21,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC/C/GC/21&Lang=en
19
National Report, UPR 2019, Islamic Republic of Iran, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/WG.6/34/IRN/1
20
Ibid.
10
2