Reza Ghadimi, the Managing Director of the Tehran Social Services Organization, responded to a question about child workers and that most of them were Afghans and their families were forced to send them to work due to poverty, according to the state-run ILNA news agency report on October 14, 2017.
“In most cases, the parents of these children are not even living inside Iran and they are sent inside Iran… Maybe Welfare Centers do not have enough facilities, but it’s better for them (the children) than to be in the corner of streets in the cold, especially in light of the fact that 90% of them are sexually abused”, he said. ()
Research shows 45% of labor children and those living on the streets are suffering from illnesses such as AIDS, hepatitis and others. These children are also known to be suffering from malnutrition, being short in height, low weight, skin illnesses and psychological disorders.
Many such children work at least 6 hours a day and don’t eat even a single decent meal, providing the grounds for these children to obtain even more illnesses.
