A video showing two young boys being mistreated by a municipal worker has caused an uproar in Iran. The image is shocking: the man filming asks the boys to eat the flowers that they were selling in the street – or face deportation.

The 40-second video first appeared on social media in Iran on January 12. It has been spread on the popular messaging app Telegram as well as on Facebook and Twitter. The video shows the younger boy crying as the man behind the camera shouts: “Eat it all, hurry up, all of it! The stem too. Eat it, otherwise I will send you to the camp." The other boy asks, “Can I not eat the plastic wrap?” The man answers, “No, you have to eat it all”.





Iranian news outlets have reported that this video was filmed in the southeastern city of Kerman, and that the man behind the camera is a municipal agent tasked with regulating street vendors. The two boys are reportedly of Afghan nationality, which explains why the man threatens to send the kids to “the camp”. Undocumented immigrants are sent to camps before they are deported from Iran to their country of origin.

During an interview with state TV, the mayor of Kerman confirmed the incident. He said that the municipal agent had been fired and that he would be brought to justice.

In the past few years, there have been many cases of violence by municipal agents against kids who work as street vendors – including ones caught on video, like the two videos below.

A young street vendor was mistreated by municipal agents in Tehran in December 2017.

A young street vendor was mistreated by municipal agents in Qom in December 2016.



In most cases, however the agents have not been brought to justice, says our Observer Hediah (pseudonym). She’s a children’s rights activist in Iran who prefers to stay anonymous for security reasons.