Refugees Who Enroll Their Children in School Will Not Be Expelled from Iran

Ahmad Mohammadi Far, the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs at the Iranian Ministry of Interior, announced that "migrants and refugees" who enroll their children in school will be "protected" from expulsion from Iran. According to the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, on Saturday, May 21, Mr. Mohammadi Far added that in the event of police encounters with migrants and refugees, "they should definitely not be expelled from the country if they show their children's school enrollment documents." Most migrants and refugees in Iran are Afghan citizens. According to the latest statistics released by the Foreign Nationals Department of the Ministry of Interior, 11% of Afghanistan's population lives in Iran. As stated by the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs, the immunity of these migrants from expulsion from Iran is "one of the issues raised in coordination between agencies." Mr. Mohammadi Far also mentioned that in 2015, 48,000 migrant students were registered in Iranian schools, "but apparently some of these individuals did not attend classes despite being registered." The statements of the Director General of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs come at a time when Mojtaba Shakri, a member of the Cultural and Social Commission of the Tehran City Council, recently stated that the "problem of enrolling Afghan children in schools" has not yet been resolved despite a directive from Ali Khamenei to enroll them. According to him, "many Afghan students have been deprived of education so far, and this problem must be resolved for the next academic year." On October 4 of last year, Masoumeh Abad, another member of the Tehran City Council, criticized the process of enrolling Afghan children in schools, stating that "only 35,000 Afghan students have been registered in schools." According to Ms. Abad, about 100,000 Afghan children need to be enrolled in schools, of which only 35,000 have been registered. In June of last year, Iranian media reported that Ali Khamenei had issued a directive for the enrollment of Afghan children and asked responsible officials to enroll these children in Iranian schools. According to these reports, Mr. Khamenei stated: "No Afghan child, even migrants who are present in Iran illegally and without documents, should be deprived of education." Previously, only those Afghan children whose residency was approved by the Ministry of Interior and responsible agencies were able to study in Iranian schools. Following this directive, the Ministry of Interior announced in August of last year the start of enrollment for Afghan children who "do not have legal residency documents." However, despite more than six months since the start of enrollment for these Afghan children, reports indicate a slow registration process, which has faced protests from at least two members of the Tehran City Council. According to Islamic Republic officials, about 320,000 Afghan students and 13,000 Afghan university graduates are present in Iran, and it is expected that this number will increase with new registrations in the future. In Iran, one and a half million undocumented individuals live, and according to the country's laws, if an undocumented individual is arrested, a three-year prison sentence can be imposed on them.