
Which organizations are responsible for handling cardboard boxes? / Ali Kalai
“این عکس یک گلدان گل زیباست”
This picture is a beautiful flower vase.
Ali Kalai
They themselves do not know where their last refuge is. In this chaotic world and time, they are with whom, what institution, and what organization. They spend their nights on the streets until morning. Occasionally, they go to shelters, but they are unhappy with the behaviors that take place there. They are homeless, but they are human. They used to have homes, lives, jobs, and a vital existence like all of us, but now they have fallen from their horses and yet they are not defeated; they sleep in cardboard boxes and when they sleep in graves, they become grave-sleepers. Real people with flesh, skin, and blood in the city. Those who are not seen but exist, and are only reminded of their existence when an event occurs.
Fateme Daneshvar, the head of the Cultural and Social Commission of Tehran City Council, in an interview with Mehrkhaneh in Azar 1394, talks about a plan that is set to “organize the cardboard box sleepers with the cooperation of the municipality, welfare organization, law enforcement forces, and to some extent, the Ministry of Health.” In this plan, it has been decided that “the law enforcement forces are responsible for collecting, the municipality is responsible for reconstruction of Shafaq camp, the anti-drug headquarters, which has delegated its management to the private sector, and the welfare organization is responsible for providing methadone and methadone treatment.”
Based on what this responsible position suggests, it is not an institution that is determined to coordinate with several other institutions to organize the cardboard boxes of women in Tehran. And according to what the expert suggests, in this list that emphasizes the need for cooperation between institutions, we are facing a ministry called the Ministry of Health that is supposed to “to some extent” cooperate in this project. The lack of accuracy and clarity in the words of this responsible position in Tehran is completely clear and there is no need for explanation. In a large urban project, it is determined that not in such an accurate way that “to some extent” the cooperation of a ministry is utilized!
Furthermore, Fatemeh Daneshvar explains that after the merger of the Welfare Organization and the Social Security Organization with the Ministry of Labor, a comprehensive study of social problems was summarized in a new department called the “Office of Social Problems” in the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare. It is evident that when such a crucial task is given such a low level of credibility in the construction of governance, what the output and result will be.
“Leyla Arshad, a social worker and CEO of the “Khaneh Khorshid” Women’s Addiction Treatment Center, spoke to the Iran newspaper a month ago about the above mentioned plan in response to a question from the reporter (which is also the main question in this article) asking, “Which organization is currently responsible for addressing social issues?” She responds, “It seems that in this field, every institution enters the field according to the events that are covered by the media, and after the noise dies down, they start all over again.”
This means that a specific institution does not accept responsibility for all social damages – specifically the issue of cardboard sleeping – and according to the circumstances and at any time, they take action based on the unstable situation of cardboard sleepers at that time (a situation that was reported to have a high prevalence of bloody diarrhea among them) until the recent mass graves in Tehran, and based on media reports, institutions take action, showing their own identity and then starting anew.
In Ardibehest 94, Zahra Tabibzadeh Noori, the current representative of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, spoke with Mehrkhaneh about the issue of cardboard beds for women and girls, and informed them of the responsibility of two institutions, the Welfare Organization and the Relief Committee.
He also speaks about the importance of “transparency” in this matter and adds another institution – the Relief Committee – to the list of disorganized and chaotic institutions, organizations, and agencies. This institution should collaborate with other institutions to address the issue of homelessness and social problems like this in Iran. It is worth noting that this statement is made by a former member of parliament, a legislator, and someone who should be knowledgeable about laws and responsibilities.
Let’s go back a bit. In 1382 and with the news of the death of 40 homeless people in the month of Azar of that year, during an emergency meeting between the police and the municipality of Tehran, it was decided that “based on the information gathered by the Cultural-Social Commission of the City Council, the police should identify and collect the addicts living on the streets”. Additionally, “the municipality, with the help of the Welfare Organization, took responsibility for providing housing for them”.
But according to reports, and only after a while, other institutions and organizations involved in the issue took on this responsibility, while the population of cardboard sleepers was increasing. Therefore, the municipality decided to provide temporary shelters for cardboard sleepers; shelters that later turned into soup kitchens to organize the cardboard sleepers. However, the result was the absence of many cardboard sleepers in the soup kitchen, and recently some of them have even reached the point of being buried in cardboard. A task that was not done and institutions that, each in their own way, legally or illegally, have come to the field to be present in the media and have spent a lot of money, but due to the lack of a clear organization to solve this problem, have not reached a solution.
But it seems that this legal disorder dates back to years before 1982. According to IRNA, in Azar 1395, “According to a regulation that was approved in the 82nd meeting of the Supreme Administrative Council of Provinces in 1378 regarding the organization of homeless, vagrants, and addicts, the organization of street addicts in cities with a population of over 500,000 is the responsibility of approximately 11 organizations and institutions.”
Based on this report, the responsibility for creating refugee camps falls on the municipality and, if necessary, with the approval of the governor, other resources and funds from the province can also be used and the necessary funds can be provided from the public budget and donations. The municipality is also obligated to identify, collect, and deliver homeless, wanderers, and addicts to the refugee camps and cooperate with law enforcement in this regard.
After the establishment of refugee camps, the responsibility of managing the camp is assigned to the governor, and the camp is obligated to receive, temporarily house, identify the status, and classify individuals into one of the following groups: suspects of committing crimes, professional beggars and vagrants, homeless and unknown individuals, stranded and fugitive individuals, physically and mentally disabled individuals, and those in need of non-professional assistance.
In the next step, responsible organizations for regulating street addicts, including municipalities, judiciary, law enforcement, General Office of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, Welfare, and Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, are obligated to introduce their authorized representatives to the camp complexes for carrying out the duties of their subordinate departments.
“Residents in the dormitories are transferred to supervised welfare centers in case of a judicial order from the judiciary and personal desire of the individual from these complexes. Girls and women are exposed to harm in crisis intervention centers, physically and mentally disabled individuals are accepted in 24-hour centers, addicted homeless women are placed in special centers, and the elderly are accepted in nursing homes. The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee also has the responsibility to provide support and coverage for the homeless, the poor, the disabled, and the victims of disasters. The Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare also has the responsibility to promote social justice and equality and to improve the living conditions of people in marginalized areas. It is also responsible for addressing social issues and promoting social cohesion and solidarity within the community.”
But the story is not as orderly as IRNA reports. Earlier, before the chaos, the opinions of the country’s legislators were announced in two levels, the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Islamic City Council.
Furthermore, statements such as the comments of the Prevention and Removal of Urban Offenses Manager of Isfahan Municipality regarding the lack of transparency and the dusty nature of the issue, add to the lack of transparency and the dusty nature of the issue. In an interview with the Isfahan Municipality website, he says, “This institution (Isfahan Municipality) collects these individuals, but is confused about which organization to deliver them to, to the point that no one, not even the rehabilitation center, is willing to care for these individuals.”
The work has become so high that Samieh Mahmoudi, a member of the Social Commission of the Parliament, in December of this year expressed concern about the existence of 19,000 homeless and cardboard sleepers across the country in an interview with Fars News Agency, saying: “Responsible institutions must interact with each other to solve the problem of homeless and cardboard sleepers.”
Work has been done to coordinate and design laws and approaches as if it were in the past, and it has been drawn to the request and plea of the forces involved in social issues in legislative institutions.
Cardboard beds, like any other marginalized group in Iran, are victims of political conflicts between different institutions and officials, and each time they suffer serious consequences. Whenever a new event occurs and the issue of cardboard beds is brought up in the media, various institutions – who are all responsible for solving the problem according to legal documents – point fingers at each other and talk about the responsibility of “others” in resolving the crisis and issue.
Some accuse the government, especially the Deputy for Women and Family Affairs of the Presidency, and say that it has reached a point where Nahid Khodakarami, an official of this department, tells Iran Online: “There are various institutions responsible for solving women’s problems, and all fingers point to the Deputy for Women and Family Affairs of the Presidency, when it is possible to solve this issue by identifying the causes and damages.” Then she expresses hope that “all responsible institutions, including the municipality, welfare, police, and the judiciary, with the cooperation of media groups, can solve the problem of women living in cardboard boxes.”
The accusing finger that God’s mercy is named after can be observed in conservative and anti-government media. For example, the weekly magazine “Shoma”, the organ of the Islamic Coalition Party, in Ordibehesht 95, reported on the approval of the budget and the responsibility of this institution in an article titled “A Supportive Look at Sleeping Carton Women” and also spoke about “unethical exploitation by this coordinating organization in the issue of sleeping carton women”.
And work reaches a point where Mashregh News publishes a report about “progressive criticism of the phenomenon of poverty and cardboard sleeping” and defends the municipality and mayor against criticism from a reformist representative in parliament.
Even an expert in economic issues, in an interview with “Rah Dana Information Network”, knows that corruption is the result of astronomical salaries of government managers and officials.
The point here is that even responsible institutions in this issue, also shirk their responsibility. As mentioned earlier, one of the responsible institutions in this issue is “welfare”. But the director of welfare in Mazandaran province clearly stated in an interview with ILNA in February 2016 that the responsibility of these individuals is not with welfare and they are asking “related organizations” to take action.
Abbas’s wife from the glass agency used to say, “Sacrificial meat, Abbas, sacrificial meat.” Sacrificial meat every cold season, for years the cardboard boxes have been sleeping. Sacrificial meat of partisan fights. Sacrificial meat of irresponsibility of responsible institutions. Sacrificial meat of disorder in the construction of the country’s management and the fact that no institution is clearly accountable. Everyone talks about “relevant agencies” and “responsible” but no institution is clearly and fully accountable, neither “relevant” nor “responsible.” The fragmentation in decision-making in the integrity of governance, which claims responsibility for this issue, is evident. Every time and in the face of every event – like the recent mass graves – there is only screaming and protesting, and a few institutions promise to solve the problem, but then nothing happens. Cardboard sleeping is not just a problem in Tehran. Hamedan, Isfahan, Sanandaj, and many other cities in Iran
Every year – especially on cold days – there are people who are out on the streets, skating. They don’t see the next year. They are victims of chaos in the law, lack of accountability, and failure to enforce the law by the country’s officials. Officials who spend their nights in warm and well-equipped places with their spouses and children. It’s as if they are still unaware of the pedestrians.

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Addiction Addicts Ali Kala'i Carton bed General Directorate of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare Grave Homeless 2 Imam Khomeini Relief Committee Judiciary 2 Kitchen Law enforcement Monthly Peace Line Magazine Municipality peace line Social harms Welfare