Petition Following the Explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port, Bandar Abbas
288
Signatures
500
Goal
On the Situation of Undocumented Workers, the Need to Identify Baluch Victims, and a Demand for Transparency
June 1, 2025
Addressed to:
Authorities responsible for labor rights, ethnic and religious minority affairs, and responses to humanitarian disasters.
We, a group of labor rights and civil society activists, hereby submit this petition grounded in the fundamental principles of human rights, protective labor laws, and Articles 20, 22, and 43 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In light of the human toll of the recent explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas, we raise the following concerns:
1. Undocumented Baluch Workers: The Nameless Victims of Disaster
Reports indicate that dozens of day laborers, many of them undocumented and of Baluch origin, were killed or went missing in the recent explosion at Shahid Rajaee Port. These workers, lacking official identification, are excluded from labor registries, denied insurance and social protection, and are absent from official lists of the dead or injured.
The government is legally obligated to protect all residents, regardless of ethnicity. Ignoring the fate of undocumented Baluch workers in times of disaster amounts to a blatant violation of their right to life and their right to justice and reparations.
2. Systematic Erasure and Denial of the Human Rights of the Baluch People
In marginalized regions such as Sistan and Baluchestan, a significant number of citizens, including the deceased worker Abdulbaset Shahouzehi, are denied the legal right to a birth certificate or national ID. As a result of entrenched systemic discrimination, this ethnic-religious minority is excluded from state support systems in education, healthcare, employment, and emergency response.
This invisibility follows them in life and in death. Even in the aftermath of a disaster like the port explosion, their names are not recorded, and their families are left with no legal means to seek justice or compensation.
3. Urgent Need for Transparency and Legal Accountability in the Port Explosion
According to official reports, the explosion was caused by hazardous chemical materials stored unsafely in shipping containers at the port.
We demand an immediate and public investigation into the following:
- The nature of the explosive materials and the legal responsibilities for their transport and storage;
- The causes of failure to observe workplace safety and civil defense protocols;
- The names and legal statuses of all responsible individuals and institutions;
- Transparent and public legal proceedings against both public and private parties found liable.
We also urge prompt and concrete action on the following:
- Identification and official registration of all victims, including undocumented individuals — and posthumous legal recognition of their identities to ensure their families can seek compensation and justice;
- Immediate reform of identity registration policies, and the establishment of procedures to issue legal IDs to undocumented children and adults — particularly in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, which has the highest rate of unregistered citizens;
- Criminal investigation into the role of port, customs, and safety officials whose negligence contributed to the disaster;
- Mandatory public disclosure of the contents of the exploded containers, their origin, and the entities that imported or owned the goods;
- Creation of a support fund or mechanism for undocumented day laborers, enabling access to compensation, medical care, and legal representation.
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Province Number of signatures Alborz 5 Ardabil 0 Bushehr 1 Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiari 0 East Azerbaijan 2 Fars 2 Gilan 5 Golestan 1 Hamadan 0 Hormozgan 3 Ilam 1 Isfahan 1 Kerman 0 Kermanshah 0 Khuzestan 3 Kohgiluyehv And Boyer Ahmad 0 Kurdistan 0 Lorestan 0 Markazi 1 Mazandaran 2 North Khorasan 0 Qazvin 1 Qom 1 Razavi Khorasan 5 Semnan 0 Sistan and Baluchestan 1 South Khorasan 0 Tehran 23 West Azerbaijan 1 Yazd 0 Zanjan 0 This petition has received 288 signatures so far. Approximately 92% of signatures come from Iran. Approximately 8% of signatures come from outside of Iran. Learn how Daadkhast generates signature maps. -
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دولت باید هرچه سریعتر برای ثبتهویت و ایجاد سازوکار اعطای شناسنامه به کودکان و بزرگسالان فاقد مدرک هویت اقدام کند، بویژه با تمرکز بر استان سیستان و بلوچستان که بالاترین آمار افراد فاقد شناسنامه را دارد.
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A group of labor rights activists started this petition
