Iran's parliament ratifies expuslion of illegal foreign workers

The Iranian news agency IRNA said that the parliament voted to approve the expulsion of the hundreds of thousands of foreign workers who work illegally in the country in order to ease the unemployment problem.

The parliament ratified the decision yesterday during discussions of the third plan for economic development suggested by President Mohamed Khatami's government.

The decision calls for expelling the foreign workers by the end of the coming Persian year in March 2001.

The draft resolution was raised up by the work committee affiliated to the parliament, but it was not included in the framework of discussing the fifth draft plan presented by the government.

Nearly two million foreign refugees, most of whom are from Afghanistan, live in Iran without a work permit.

The government intends to improve job opportunities for its citizens during the coming five years to reduce unemployment. The officials said that average unemployment reaches 15%.