The Street Children “Organization” Plan: Unlawful Detention and Child Abuse
The street children organization plan, which has been repeatedly implemented over the past two decades by the Welfare Organization in cooperation with other institutions including municipalities and governorates, has been accompanied by unlawful detention, violence, and placing children in unsuitable conditions in detention centers. The implementation of this plan with its current characteristics, aside from contradicting the government’s commitments as a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has imposed compounded psychological and social harms on these children and in practice has pushed them toward underground and hidden occupations with the potential for exploitation and greater harm.
During the latest round of child labor collection from Tehran’s streets, which began on June 13, 2019, 270 working children were collected from Tehran’s streets. The implementation of this plan since its first execution in 2002 has always been accompanied by criticism and opposition from child rights activists who have considered it “ineffective, costly, and fruitless.” Darius Biyatnezh, director general of Tehran Province Welfare Organization, announced on July 17, 2019 that the latest round of plan implementation was temporarily halted due to the full capacity of temporary child detention centers, but announced plans to continue implementation as soon as suitable facilities were provided. The street and working children organization plan was first implemented in 2002 in the Social Affairs Deputy of the Ministry of Interior and has been executed approximately thirty times to date. However, statistics indicate an increase in the number of working children in the country, which reveals the failure of this plan.
The organization plan, instead of taking a social and supportive approach to working children and planning to eliminate the roots and causes of child labor, has taken a security and criminal approach to the issue and focused on removing children from streets and deporting non-Iranian children from the country. Tehran Municipality, meanwhile, has adopted a dual policy: on one hand, cooperating with Welfare in collecting and detaining street children, and on the other hand, taking no action against the exploitation of these children in waste separation by its contractors.
A lawyer and child rights activist told the Iran Human Rights Campaign on the condition of anonymity: “The government should permanently stop the implementation of this plan and, in consultation with child rights specialists, prepare and implement an appropriate plan to address the roots of child labor including poverty and family ignorance and the demand for child labor, and ensure that in any plan and program in this area, the best interests of the child are prioritized. The Parliament and Guardian Council should also prioritize the passage of a law protecting children against violence and ensure that this law will create effective mechanisms for protecting these children.”
Unlawful Detention of Children on the Streets
Responsible officials, following the “Street Children Organization Regulation,” use the term “attracting children on the street” instead of collecting them. According to the president of the Social Work Association, “The role of social workers is to identify children and move toward attracting, not collecting them. Attraction means voluntary presence and introducing available resources to working children.”
However, what actually happens is the forced transfer of children to Welfare residential centers. A review of interviews conducted by domestic media with children detained under this plan shows that plan implementers forced these children into specially designated vehicles against their will or through deception and transferred them to designated centers.
For example, an Afghan boy named Moein who was engaged in cleaning car windows on the street described his detention day to a reporter as follows: “They said come let’s go to Welfare, I shouted saying I won’t come, but two people grabbed my hand and took me. I didn’t want to come, and I don’t want to be here now.” Another child described his detention to ISNA reporter as: “One day when I was near a shop, two people came and said they wanted to give me new clothes. I told my boss and went to the car, but there they grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. It was six o’clock when they grabbed me and nine o’clock when they brought me to this center.”
Legally, such action constitutes arbitrary and unlawful detention. Because according to law, deprivation of freedom from individuals, including children, is only possible by order of legal authorities and on suspicion of committing a crime and only by persons who are judicial officials. Any deprivation of freedom that occurs without observing these conditions is considered unlawful and arbitrary detention. However, there is no law by which a child under 18 who is present to work on the street is a criminal and subject to detention. This year, the identification and attraction phase of children on the street has been entrusted to “Avaye Baran” social work clinic. Therefore, a non-governmental organization has in practice carried out the detention of children in Tehran, which is in no way legal.
The legal document of Welfare and other institutions involved in this plan is the Street Children Organization Regulation approved in 2005, which after identifying and attracting street children, has provided for their residence in Welfare centers. However, the regulation in question defines the process of attracting children as: “Strengthened communication by a social worker with a street child that involves gaining the trust and acceptance of the relationship by the street child. This activity is carried out with the aim of informing the street child of resources and services that can be made available to him.”
Therefore, first, plan implementers must necessarily be trained social workers with proper qualifications. There is no information available about how plan implementers, who this time have been entrusted to the Avaye Baran social work clinic, were selected and it is unclear how their performance is supervised. Second, the primary goal is to inform the child of available facilities and resources and to gain his trust, and this regulation in no way allows the use of force or the transfer of a child against his will.
What was intended in this plan was to create a gradual relationship based on interaction and trust between a social worker and a working child present on the street, which ultimately, after providing information about available resources in Welfare centers, might lead to the child’s consent to residence in one of these centers. While according to existing reports, the plan implemented in recent years including June and July 2019 on Tehran’s streets bears no resemblance whatsoever to the plan provided for in the regulation. In this regard, one of the social workers at the Avaye Baran clinic who is responsible for collecting these children told an online news reporter: “Since the plan started on June 13, the moment children see us they run away and we are forced to hide in ambush to be able to catch them.”
Also, separating a child from the family environment is only possible by court order and if there are conclusive reasons that the child is in danger of abuse and violence, the child can be separated from the family permanently and temporarily and handed over to government centers. However, this action must be taken after examining the conditions of the child’s presence in the family and with the family’s knowledge of the child’s transfer. The place selected for child care must have suitable living conditions and it must be ensured that in the process of transfer and care, no violence of any kind, physical, sexual, verbal, or psychological is inflicted on the child.
Hamid Farahani, a child rights activist and sociologist, while calling such plans propagandistic, told an online news reporter: “This plan has very bad effects on these children. This is literally the detention and hostage-taking of children. I am very sorry that a social work clinic has taken on the arrest of children and I ask people to demand an end to this plan.”
Violent and Criminal Treatment of Detained Children
After transfer to temporary centers, officials proceed to identify and register children’s identities and form files for them, assigning a specific code to each. The reason for registering children’s details and coding is stated as awareness of their records in case of return to the street, which in fact means file-making and in a sense creating a bad history. This action also clearly reflects a criminalized view of working children present on the street.
In the next stage, children undergo medical examinations and tests. While conducting this work also requires the consent and knowledge of the child’s family and it is unclear how children are treated during these examinations and tests. It is also unclear what information is collected, under what conditions the information is protected, which institutions have access to it, and how it is used.
Reports published from one of three street children detention centers in Tehran show that children live in prison-like conditions under violence and severe restrictions. An ISNA reporter who visited the Yasser Center for boys between 12 and 18 years old reported that 150 children live in a center with a capacity of 35 children and even to be present on another floor of the center or its courtyard, they need permission from managers and opening a special lock. Children’s exit from these centers is contingent on guardians’ visit and signing a guarantee, and until then, children are even deprived of visiting their families.
One of the children at Yasser Center, in describing the conditions of residence in that center, told an ISNA reporter: “There is not enough space here even for sleeping. At nights we are given one pillow for two people and we sleep side by side in the hallways and rooms.” This report also referred to punishment and violence against children, where the interviewed child pointed out to a reporter a man who “for punishment forces the children to stand behind a short wall that apparently separates the kitchen from the rest of the hallway and not move.” The reporter added: “Looking in that direction, the man’s finger points threateningly at one of the center’s children and is now aimed at him.”
Moreover, the implementers of the street children organization plan, with a security perspective on the issue, have prevented the presence of active civil society organizations in the field of child rights in the detention centers of these children. According to Fatema Ashrafieh, CEO of the Association for the Protection of Refugee Women and Children (Hami), which was the only non-governmental organization participating in the implementation of this plan, following the emergence of tensions with the managers of Yasser Children’s Center due to inappropriate treatment of children under the plan’s support, permission to enter and communicate with children was also stripped from the members of this association.
Double Violation of Rights of Non-Iranian Children
According to Masudi-Farid, Deputy for Social Affairs at the Welfare Organization, out of the total non-Iranian children detained during the latest round of the child labor organization plan, 53 percent lack identity documents. Reports show that non-Iranian children who have illegally entered the country and lack identity documents, during the “organization” plan are separated from other children and are deported or “border-returned” by the Foreign Citizens and Migrants Affairs Department of the Ministry of Interior. On July 15, 2019, Mohammad Rahim Fazeli-Nezhad, director of the Tehran Province Welfare Administration, told an online news reporter: “Out of 250 children collected during the plan implementation, more than 210 are undocumented migrants. It is planned that by the end of this week, 50 of these undocumented migrant children will be border-returned.”
Proceeding to deport groups of children based on identity documents violates the government’s international commitments and constitutes violence and mistreatment of children. In such circumstances, all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that the child is separated from his family as little as possible and if his family is in Iran, the child should be returned to his family and in case of the decision of official authorities, must leave the country with respect for dignity and accompanied by his family. Regarding children whose families are not present in Iran, the child’s deportation from the country must be accompanied by a trusted person and protective measures must be taken to ensure that the child is in no way subjected to violence and mistreatment during the process of leaving the country.
Hadi Shirazi, vice president of the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, said in this regard: “The fundamental problem is that decision-making institutions categorize working children based on whether they are Iranian or non-Iranian. This leads to more aggressive policies toward migrant children, which is completely contrary to Article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which refers to the principle of non-discrimination, and in fact based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and humanitarian documents for migrants and refugees, both adults and children need more attention and support.”
Although Shakrollah Hasanbighi, political and social deputy of Tehran governor denied the deportation of undocumented Afghan children, but according to Hadi Shirazi, vice president of the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, “The border return of migrant working children is not the first time it has happened. This so-called solution has happened many times before and I can clearly say that not only did it not have the desired result, but due to the manner of border return, most of them suffer serious harm and after a while due to the unsafe conditions in their country, they return to Iran again.” The Iran Human Rights Campaign has been unable to obtain more information about the deportation of children in recent days.
Dealing with Working Children Instead of Eradicating Child Labor
Examination of the implementation method of the organization plan shows that those responsible, instead of identifying and eliminating the factors that force families to make their children work, are merely seeking to counteract the presence of working children on the street. Therefore, the plan being implemented does not target the fight against child labor but rather targets the limited group of working children who are engaged in street work. Hadi Shirazi, vice president of the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, said in a roundtable held on this issue: “We believe what should be fought is child labor, not the working child. Police and judicial measures will not have any positive results. We recommend fighting the foundations that create child labor. A paralyzed economy and a market that swallows and exploits cheap labor must be confronted. A society that turns a blind eye to the rights of workers, migrants, and marginalized people must be made aware. There must be greater macroeconomic planning in the area of social welfare for low-income groups and instead of expelling specialists, increase the use of their knowledge in solving this harm. If the budget and resources that were spent on the organization plan in recent years were directed toward strengthening social welfare, supportive systems like insurance, etc., without a doubt these discussions would be presented differently today. If you are familiar with the lives of working children, you certainly know that they are constantly victimized in this society and by implementing this plan we impose double fear and terror on them.
Family poverty is one of the main roots of child labor, and therefore no plan to combat child labor can achieve lasting success without planning to eliminate poverty in their families. Arash Nasressfahani, head of the Tehran Municipality’s Office of Social and Cultural Studies, also referring to the ineffectiveness of plans implemented to reduce social problems including the situation of working and street children, said: “The type of solution and problem understanding is wrong and we went wrong in dealing with these phenomena.” He added, referring to the need to revise laws to protect children: “The issue of working children must be solved fundamentally and considering the family and its environmental conditions, and only removing children from public spaces should not be considered.”
Nasressfahani, stating that in solving the harms of child labor, coercive action has been taken and no attention has been paid to causes, said: “In various divisions for organizing this issue, children are returned based on their place of residence, for example to Afghanistan, and such policies consider the removal of working children from urban spaces as a solution.”
The need to change the waste collection and separation system is another way to combat child labor. Because many of these children are drawn into the waste separation network and if contractors responsible for waste collection, separation, and disposal refrain from employing children, effectively one of the dangerous and harmful occupations for children will be closed.
Hassan Gholami, a representative of the municipality, in response to criticism by child rights activists regarding the employment of children by municipality contractors in waste centers and the dire conditions of these centers, said: “According to the contracts made with contractors, they do not have the right to use people under 18 years old, and if they do this, it is a violation and subject to legal prosecution.”
Lack of coordination and planning among responsible agencies is another factor in the failure of measures taken to combat child labor. Payam Roshanfekr, a sociologist and child researcher, during the Tehran Urban City for All Children meeting held on the occasion of the International Day Against Child Labor, said in this regard: “The experiences of countries in the world show that solving the problem of working children in our country is also possible, but requires a coalition between the government, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the private sector, universities, etc.” He added: “Currently we need commitment more than ever, and instead of eliminating the face of the problem, we must provide solutions. We did not have a coherent program regardless of the capacity and resources, we went in circles around ourselves, and we did not reach a result.”
Children’s tendency toward hidden work, which increases the possibility of harm and exploitation of them, is one of the negative consequences of coercive treatment of working children. Hadi Shirazi, vice president of the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, told Salamat News in this regard: “Threatening and intimidating policies fuel social harms. When the street space becomes unsafe for the child in every way, the child is forced to resort to hidden work to earn a living and meet economic needs. Working children in underground workshops remain hidden from the eyes of all citizens and civil organizations also face serious challenges in accessing these children. If an underground working child is harmed, no one knows about it and in fact his relationship with support systems is reduced or cut off.”
Sayed Hassan Mousavi Chelek, president of the Iranian Association of Social Workers, also, while confirming this problem, said: “If we merely collect children from the street, ultimately child labor becomes underground and they are transferred to underground workshops and the domain of child trafficking to neighboring countries, etc. This is while the street is even safer than many underground workshops, because at least there is public oversight on the street.”
Denial and Justification, the Response of Plan Implementers
When dealing with responsible officials, instead of investigating cases of violation of the rights of working children during the implementation of the organization plan and attempting to remedy and address its shortcomings, such cases are denied. For example, Habibollah Masudi-Farid, Deputy for Social Affairs at the Welfare Organization, in response to reports of violent treatment and forced transfer of children to Welfare centers, said: “In any case, we should have more supervision, but when I talked to a few of these kids, they said we brought them here with their full consent and even gave us cake.”
He also said regarding accepting children beyond capacity in detention centers: “It’s not like we accept beyond capacity at all; I visited these centers and they were not at all accepting beyond capacity. Besides, is it good for these kids to be on the street? They are both cared for and eat proper food. But on the street their dignity is trampled. In any case, we believe the organization plan should be implemented and all agencies should cooperate. We are also opposed to any kind of violence against children.”
Mahshid Moghaddas, Deputy for Social Affairs of Tehran Province Welfare Administration, also said: “No kind of conflict and also no injuries or deaths have occurred in the detention centers for working children and the plan of these cases is rumor.”
Actions of Child Rights Activists to Combat the Street Children Organization Plan
The publication of reports on the manner of detention and care of children within the framework of the organization plan provoked widespread protests and criticism among child rights activists. For example, the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, given the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare as the upstream institution of the Welfare Organization, registered its complaint with this ministry at the Office of the Inspector General of the Country. Also, the Working Children Aid Network, which was formed with the membership of civil society organizations active in supporting children, in a statement objected to the street children labor and organization plan that is linked to the detention of children on streets and called for permanent cessation of its implementation.
Moreover, a group of citizens by launching the “No to the Street Children Labor Collection Plan” campaign have engaged in organizing civil activities in this regard. This campaign is currently active with the membership of more than four thousand citizens on social networks and publishes relevant news and articles and expands public awareness regarding the dimensions of coercive treatment of working children on the street.
Source: Iran Human Rights Campaign
