Countless Violations on Iranian Asylum Seekers!
In the face of unspeakable suffering and countless violations of human rights in Iran, urge you ? all of you, beyond the political views, religious beliefs ? to gather together and bring our innocent terrorised voices to the political and social scene and international public. While development of the body of the intergovernmental humanitarian organisations is significant, the actual impact is very disappointing. The Swiss Authority for Refugee (BFF) and Red Cross Swiss section have offensively “offered” Iranian asylum seekers to go-back in country. The Refugee Authority has to know the ancient said, that which strongly enough what they do to people they do to themselves for they are part of its fabric.
It is an humancentric conceit that asylum seekers are an adversary to be “controlled” and/or that are exist for sole benefit. There is a need that the Refugee Authorities in Europe and over the oceans should recognise what happening in Iran. Iranian asylum seekers would see the great merit in a willingness to have that recognition in the form of immediate enterprise.
It is striking, looking at the situation in Iran, that which led Iranians, in many ways get out of country, and take the refugee avenue. Iranians deserved better understanding and be considered human-being who are searching freedom. Iranians possessed in their nature all they needed to be free, and prosperous and to live a life of dignity in equality and peace.
That, however, is no reason to abandon hope. Because, thanks to the well-arranged meeting and moderated by the International Union of Refugees, Swiss chapter (IUR), which has been supported by leaders of the Socialist Party of Iran (SPI), Progressive Women Organization (PWO) not only the motioned meeting has been boldly successes. But also Red Cross people in the meeting have been publicly excused from Iranian asylum seekers. Several Iranian and Swiss parties and humanitarian organisations have joined in the protest by lobbying to stop the return-programme (for report see Schweiz Dépsche Agant, 6th May, 2002, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), 7th May 2002).
Refugees have a fundamental right to safe asylum including the right to physical security. They should also not be forced back to a place where they will be persecuted and killed, and should be ensured that their basic human rights are respected. A painstakingly slow and unpredictable asylum process is another element of re-traumatisation.
While every effort should be made to increase integrity and to expedite the process, it is an obligation of the international community to ensure that the Swiss Authority for Refugee (BFF) refrains from rejecting and returning Iranian refugees and, ensures that refugees receive safe and true asylum.
The BFF’s evaluation of the human rights situation in Iran has no substantive value because it uses inappropriate standards to examine human infringements in Iran. The BFF belief is based on the report that peoples in the West and in Iran do not share a common humanity, seems. It means [Iranian] are not deserving of rights and freedoms. It implies that international human rights are the sole prerogative of members of Western societies, thus nationality precludes Iranians from
claiming the same rights and freedoms as people in the West ? fundamental rights such as the right to freedom of thoughts, conscience, privacy, dress-code mandatory, religion (including the right not to have a religion), expression, assembly, sexual preference, and due process of law. [The] most likely the best and secure report on Iran and its related cultural, political, and social context would be made through the first-hand information given by refugees.
The BFF policy towards Iranians is further suspect of bias because of a pattern of grossly unfair decisions on Iranian asylum applications. The rejected applications invariably demonstrate use of an excessively strict interpretation of the Convention refugee definition.
As Iran remains one of the most chronically abusive governments that is also unresponsive to international monitoring, asylum seekers from Iran overwhelmingly have genuine personal fears of persecution in the sense of the Geneva Convention on Refugees or have grounds to fear inhuman treatment in the sense of Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom. Accordingly, they must be given refugee status. In this regard the extremely low rate of refugee recognition in Switzerland and high number of grossly unfair negative decisions are most embarrassment and humiliating misjudgments.
The Refugee Authorities should re-look and re-evaluate their mindscape on Iranian applicants for asylum and redress their position within human right task-issue. Therefore it is crucial that these organisations be aware of their ethical responsibility and to give more and appropriate attention to spreading the word about human right as well as humanitarian law. So, we urge the Swiss Federal Office for Refugee (BFF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to concern and provide fairly political refugee status in rational time.
Siamak G. Shahneshin
A member of Socialist Party of Iran SPI
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