The phenomenon of street children is a common aspect of a few big Iranian cities, especially the capital city. They are seen almost everywhere and any time in the capital city, begging, selling cheap goods, playing musical instruments, or simply wandering around and playing with their playmates. In Tehran, due to heavy car traffic and long traffic light waiting time, street child vendors usually stand at the cross-sections to beg or sell goods to the waiting car drivers and passengers. The presence of these children is mostly ignored by most inhabitants of the city and authorities alike, unless there are special short-term ‘purging’ projects planned to take street children to centers run by the State Welfare Organization. These projects, however, have so far failed to effectively address the issue of street children and child labor, and reduce the number of street children in the capital city.
Half of Iran’s street children live in poverty, in the country’s capital, Tehran. Street children spend the day and part of the night in the streets and engage in informal economic activities. They experience abuse, violence, and psychological distress in public spaces. The street child issue in Iran is a transnational issue; according to official reports, up to half of the street children are Afghans refugees’ and migrants’ children whose exposure to economic and cultural hardship and stereotyping is related to children’s poverty.
This study provides a review of literature on street children’s demographics and the situation in Tehran, and the relationship between child poverty and Afghan inhabitants’ social and economic situation. I suggest that local approaches to resolve the street child issue have failed because this is a transnational problem.
Link to Original Article published in Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Published by Ladan Rahbari
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