Iran; Afghan Students with Census Documents Barred from School Enrollment

According to the directive issued by the Education Department of Tehran's counties, all schools have been instructed to refrain from enrolling migrant students with census or exit documents. School principals have also been told not to refer the families of these students to the central education office for follow-up.

This decision effectively excludes children with these types of documents from accessing formal education in Iran’s school system.

It is worth noting that according to existing statistics, around two million Afghan migrants in Iran hold census papers. Previously, Nader YarAhmadi, head of Iran’s Center for Migrant Affairs, stated that over 610,000 migrant students are currently enrolled in Iranian schools. However, it is unclear how many of them will be affected by this new ban.

This decision comes at a time when many Afghan families, especially after the closure of girls’ schools in Afghanistan by the Taliban, migrated to Iran in hopes of continuing their children's education. Now, with this new restriction, the educational future of thousands of Afghan migrant children in Iran remains uncertain.