|
Report:
IRQR ED, visited Turkey, Germany and the UK
(June 13, 10)
Arsham Parsi, Executive director of the Iranian Railroad for Queer
Refugees visited Turkey (from April 25th to May 3rd 2010), Germany (from
May 3rd to May 6th 2010) and the UK (from May 17th to 26th May 2010) in
order to meet officials, organizations as well as Iranian queer asylum
seekers in person to interview and keep record of their situation to find
out how to support them more.
In Turkey, he visited Isparta, Afyon, Kayseri and Ankara where he met more
than 35 Iranian LGBT asylum seekers before his meeting at the office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara. He has been
trying to keep record and follow up LGBT asylum seekers difficulties in
order to report to the UNHCR and start planning how to deal with their
problems through the IRQR.
In Germany, he participated in the Heinrich Böll Foundation's conference
in Berlin on May 3rd 2010 to deliver a speech about the Iranian LGBT
situation and meeting the media representatives. The event had three
regional focused on countries as Uganda, Iran and Honduras. The
overarching questions based on how the political and social conditions for
the LGBT people in those countries were and how Germany and the EU could
and should address the rights for the LGBT people in terms of their
foreign policies and relations to those countries.
In the UK, he visited main cities including London, Leeds and Manchester
to meet over 20 Iranian asylum seekers. He spent several hours to listen
to their stories and how they went through on basis of their sexual
orientation, family issues and government circumstances in Iran as well as
their unfair conditions in the UK for Iranian LGBT asylum seekers.
The information will be base of the IRQR projects to lobbying the new UK
government in order to support the Iranian LGBT who are in a need for
refugee status under the 1951 Geneva Convention on the basis that it would
be contrary to the United Kingdom's obligations or humanitarian protection
in accordance with paragraph 339C of the UK immigration rules. A person
will be granted humanitarian protection in the UK if the secretary of
state is satisfied that:
A) Substantial grounds have been shown for believing that the person
concerned, if the person returned to the country of return, would face a
real risk of suffering serious harm and is unable, or, owing to such risk,
unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country; and
B) The person is not excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection.
It is obvious that every individual Iranian LGBT will be fit in this
category but unfortunately most of them were rejected by the UK Home
Office at the first interview. That is why the IRQR should start its
official lobbying with the UK government to protect Iranian LGBT asylum
seekers who are need a protection.
Arsham Parsi attended the South Leeds Community Centre in Leeds on May
18th and he had face to face interviews with several Iranian LGBT asylum
seekers. He then paid a visit to Manchester to study several LGBT asylum
cases to discuss with them about the IRQR activities.
Arsham Parsi and all his Iranian LGBT friends in Manchester were invited
by one of the Iranian LGBT's mother to her Persian restaurant to show the
appreciation for Iranian LGBT families on their behalf regarding to Arsham
Parsi's endeavor and the IRQR activities. It highlighted a great deal of
support and proved that how parents could contribute and support this
cause emotionally.
After meeting the Iranian LGBT asylum seekers in the Northern England, he
spent the rest of his staying in the capital, London to meet media and to
visit several organizations. He had the opportunity to take part in the
first screening of the ‘Cul-de-Sac’ in Coronet Cinema, a documentary film
about Kiana Firouz, an Iranian lesbian asylum seeker in the UK.
During those trips, he had several meetings with officers of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara, office of the
Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM) in
Afyon, Kayseri and Ankara, the Amnesty International Secretariat office in
London, activists, Iranian LGBT supporters, Iranian LGBT's family, numbers
of filmmakers and journalists to talk to them about the Iranian LGBT
situation in general and after post-election demonstrations in Iran since
June 2009 in particular.
What is more, he had a meeting with the UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group
(UKLGIG) and highlighted the IRQR activities in terms of Iranian LGBT
undecided cases in the UK. It was the great opportunity for IRQR to
contact with other Iranian LGBT asylum seekers we had not contacted with
before.
Following those trips, we received some good news from the Iranian LGBT
asylum seekers. Aslan, Soheil, Hamed and Ahmad in Turkey where they were
recognized as refugees and they will start their resettlement process
soon. Aslan, Ahmad and Hamed were referred to the Canadian Embassy, Sina
and Shaghayegh were referred to the Dutch Embassy and the rest of them are
still waiting for the process. In additional, Arash, Hamid and Maryam were
granted asylum in the UK and now they can lives freely.
To sum up, despite some good news still there are many of Iranian LGBT
asylum seekers who need more support and IRQR is in contact with them to
follow up their cases. |
