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Mahtab, an Iranian Transsexual, is at Risk of Deportation (April 7, 10)
About four years ago in Tehran, Iran, Mahtab met Saleh and started their relationship. It is socially unacceptable to live together for transsexual people with their partners in Iran. Transsexual’s marriages are taboo in Iran and they always face strange questions regarding their relationship. Mahtab was abandoned by her family and her brothers and was afraid that they were going to kill her because she was an embarrassment to her family. Saleh and Mahtab lived together several months in Iran and since they had an underground relationship, nobody was able to find out. Unfortunately, Sahel's family was informed about it and they were threatened. Mahtab and Saleh had no choice but to escape, they lived temporarily at Saleh’s friends’ place. Afterwards, Mahtab and Saleh had to leave Iran to Turkey and had to seek asylum from the UNHCR office in Ankara. They officially got married in Turkey in August 2008 because they loved each other and they could not do it in Iran easily because of the stigma around transsexual marriages, thus, living in Turkey helped them achieve this dream. They have been living together for the last three years since they arrived in Turkey. It is their right to love each other and live together but unfortunately, the UNHCR’s decision created more problems and made their lives more difficult. We are very concerned about their lives, their future, psychological and emotional well being. Most people in their current city of asylum found out about Mahtab’s previous life as a transsexual and they always point them out in the streets when they are in public. They are in a very bad situation in Turkey and we request all of your support. They are victims of ignorance in Iran and they need support to live safer lives. They did not have rights in Iran and they have no rights in Turkey either. They can not go back to Iran because they will be arrested or killed by their families or the authorities. We will contact you soon to let you know how you can support Mahtab and Saleh. |
Mahtab
Mirghaderi is a male to female transsexual and she left Iran for Turkey
with her boyfriend, Saleh Shahsavar, in June 2007 due to social problems
and fear of threat for his boyfriend’s family safety. Unfortunately after
waiting a long time for their asylum, they got a letter from the office
from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey
stating that their file was rejected a few times and they decided to close
their case. They do not have any protection in Turkey and now, due to
local circumstances they have to go back to their country since UNHCR did
not recognize them as refugees and they risk being deported back if they
do not leave Turkey voluntarily. IRQR shares its deep concern about Mahtab
and Saleh’s situation due to many reasons, including the fear of their
lives being in danger. They need international protection as refugees.