Iranian civil society speaking up for Afghans' rights
Iranians are pressuring the government to help Afghan nationals with the problems they face, including discrimination and lack of access to schools.
News in recent weeks about Afghan nationals and refugees being harassed in Iran has focused the attention of civil society activists as well as the media on the problems that members of this community face.
Shahrvand reported Dec. 16 that a third-grade teacher in an Afghan-only Pakdasht school, southeast of Tehran, had forced four students who had forgotten their textbooks to stick their hands in a toilet. The news went viral in Reformist, moderate and even conservative publications. A number of newspapers (including Donyay-e-Eghtesad, Farhikhtegan, Quds, Jahan-e-Sanat and Shargh) and news websites (among them Aftab, Alef, Khabar online and Tabnak) published articles critical of the punishment.
