Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Iran (Islamic Republic of) (Ratification: 2002)

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Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and penalties. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents was enacted in 2020 and aims to prevent violence against children and related crimes. Sections 11 to 13 of the Law prohibit the sale and trafficking of children for sexual and labour exploitation and provide for severe penalties against the perpetrators (third degree imprisonment). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective application of the country’s anti-trafficking legislation, including the new Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents, as regards the sale and trafficking of children. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information, in its next report, on the number of persons responsible for the trafficking of children who have been subjected to thorough investigations and prosecutions, as well as the number and nature of penalties imposed in practice.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that over 70 per cent of Afghan opiates are trafficked via the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan every year and that children, particularly those living in border areas, were employed by criminal groups and individuals for cross-border trafficking of drugs.

The Committee notes with regret the lack of information, in the Government’s report, regarding the prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities. It notes, according to the Independent in-depth evaluation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Partnership Programme in the Islamic Republic of Iran, that one of the achievements of the programme is the new training curriculum and breeding programme of the Anti-Narcotic Police K9, as well as the support given to the Customs K9 unit by UNODC. According to the evaluation, however, the implementation of the Programme met with many challenges and its effectiveness was very limited. The Committee requests the Government to strengthen its measures to ensure that children are prevented and protected from being used for the purposes of trafficking of drugs, and to provide information on the results achieved. It also once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that thorough investigations and prosecutions are carried out against persons who use, procure or offer children under the age of 18 years for trafficking of drugs. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the number of reported violations, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and criminal penalties imposed in this regard.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Regional cooperation concerning the sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that the Government has partnered with UNODC and International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2020 to launch the European Union-funded Global Action against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT – Asia and the Middle East) in the country. The GLO.ACT is a four-year (2018-2022) joint initiative being implemented in four countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Iran. Through targeted, innovative and demand-driven interventions, the project will support the selected countries in developing and implementing comprehensive national counter-human trafficking and counter-smuggling responses. By the end of the project, Governments and civil society partners in the target countries should have the skills, capacity, and mechanisms in place to identify and screen victims of trafficking and smuggled migrants, and to refer them to the relevant service providers for protection and assistance, in line with international standards. The project will also ensure that trained protection actors have access to and understanding of global standards and resources on assistance to vulnerable migrants. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to enhance international cooperation to combat the sale and trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation and to protect and assist the victims of these worst forms of child labour. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on the results obtained from the implementation of the GLO.ACT to prevent the trafficking of migrant children.

The Committee is also raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.