UN Refugee Agency: 75,000 Children in Iran Eligible for Iranian Citizenship
The United Nations Refugee Agency office in Iran says 75,000 children in Iran are eligible to receive Iranian citizenship.
According to a report from the organization released on December 2, these children are at risk of “statelessness.”
The UN Refugee Agency meanwhile praised Iran’s action in granting Iranian citizenship to thousands of children born to Iranian mothers and non-Iranian fathers.
The report states that a law allowing Iranian mothers to pass citizenship to their children is “an important step in narrowing the gap between men and women” in a country where citizenship is traditionally passed from father to child.
The agency wrote that although “mothers and fathers are still not completely equal” under Iran’s citizenship laws, the passage of this law represents “significant progress” in this area.
The files of ten thousand children seeking citizenship in Iran have been registered so far, with the first children successfully obtaining birth certificates and Iranian citizenship last month.
On May 21, 2020, Iran’s Council of Ministers, in implementation of the single article of the law amending the law on determining the citizenship of children born from marriages between Iranian women and foreign men, approved the executive regulations on how to grant citizenship to those covered by this law.
Under these regulations, any Iranian woman who has married a non-Iranian man and as a result has a child under 18 years old, and any person born to an Iranian mother and non-Iranian father who is over 18 years old, may apply for citizenship for their child.
Citizenship transfer through the mother is considered a basic right for women in developed countries, but in Iran it remains controversial and thousands of families are struggling with it.
In recent years, many women’s rights advocates and UN special rapporteurs have repeatedly criticized “discriminatory laws against women” in Iran and called on Islamic Republic officials to reform women-related laws.
Source: Radio Farda
