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Call to Action: Two Iranian Queer Asylum Seekers Need Your Support (June
8, 2009)
Dear Friends:
We are contacting you again to request your assistance on a very urgent
case involving two Iranian queer asylum seekers: Roodabeh and Ali.
click here to find the
sample letter
“Over the past several years, hundreds of LGBT people have escaped the
repressive autocratic regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, forming a
small but colorful jetty in the stream of fleeing religious minorities and
political dissidents. Many are resettled in Kayseri, a religious, dull,
flat city in the middle of Turkey, sort of the Turkish equivalent of
Topeka. Thousands of refugees live in dingy flats behind the pastel
facades, hoping to find a permanent home in this or another country. Among
them, there are a few dozen LGBT asylum seekers who, even among these
exiles, are exiled.
If everything goes smoothly, refugees will spend two or three years in
this semi-existence before moving on to the United States, Canada,
Australia, or Europe. It’s an interminable wait. Leery of an influx of
foreign labor, Turkey won’t give refugees work papers or financial or
social assistance, even while making them pay taxes. Refugees are
corralled into smaller cities where, perhaps, they are easier to monitor.
LGBT refugees are doubly vulnerable. They are discriminated against by
merchants, landlords, and employers not only for being Iranian, but for
being gay. Yet, in comparison to Iran, Turkey is a square deal. ” - Out
Magazine, June 2009
Roodabeh is a 30 year-old lesbian who fled Iran for Turkey in February,
2008. Ali is a 29 year-old Iranian gay asylum seeker who escaped in
January, 2008. They claimed refugee status at the office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ankara on the basis of their
sexual orientation and well known fear of persecution within Iran.
Roodabeh and Ali still have not received refugee status. The common
hardships that queer refugees experience are increased for them because
they are in a very dire situation. Immediate attention by the UNHCR is
critical!
They have been waiting for a UNHCR decision almost 18 months with no
financial support. Our Executive Director, Arsham Parsi, traveled to
Turkey several times and met with UNHCR staff regarding Iranian queer
asylum seekers and their vulnerability issues. But unfortunately because
of the large number of cases and limited resources, UNHCR is facing a
backlog, the effect of which is devastating for asylum seekers who are
living in a terrible situation.
Roodabeh and Ali had a difficult situation in Iran and they escaped to
save their lives, but they still have no basic rights.
Please show your support by writing to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and urge them to expedite
the refugee process for Roodabeh and Ali. There are two ways you can help:
1. You may copy and paste the sample letters in English into an email and
send it to UNHCR; OR
2. You may write your own letter in support of Roodabeh and Ali.
click here to find the
sample letter
Send your letters to
Turan@unhcr.org and please cc: IRQR at
info@irqr.net for tracking purposes. You can also fax letters to the
UNHCR at 0090-312-441-1738, ATTN: Legal Department. If you choose to fax
your letter, please email a copy to
info@irqr.net.
Thank you for your support and please send this call for your friends and
list serves to have more support.
The following is a portion of Roodabeh and
Ali’s letters to IRQR:
“We have been waiting to complete our process for refugee status since
early 2008, and we have many problems. We fled Iran because of our lack of
safety there. According to Iranian families, society and government, we
could not live together freely as gay or lesbian in Iran.
We registered through the office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees in Ankara a few months after our arrival in Turkey. The
officers asked us to come back for legal interviews. We had to wait about
one year just for our legal interviews. Throughout this period, we had to
pay all our own expenses, which was an additional problem for us. Now,
after 18 months we have still not received any answer from the UNHCR.
Every Monday we call the UNHCR to ask about our status but the UNHCR only
tells us to "just wait." We do not know what we should do. We fled Iran
because we lacked security, but yet our lives are at risk here too. Who
will be responsible if we get in trouble here? We ask everyone for help.
We just want a normal life, the same as everybody else, but we are stuck
here.”
Sample Letter to UNHCR
To:
Turan@unhcr.org
CC: info@irqr.net
To the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Ankara:
This letter concerns the cases of Roodabeh (File Number 385-08C00917) and
Ali (File Number 385-08C01577). Roodabeh and Ali completed their legal
interviews several months ago and are currently awaiting the
commissioner’s decision. As a supporter of queer Iranians I urge the
acceptance of their applications for refugee status as vulnerable cases,
as there is every reason to expect that their lives may depend upon it.
I am concerned about their physical and emotional state in Turkey, and
urge you to bring them relief from their formidable living conditions,
which include unsanitary housing, lack of medical supplies, and an
inability to secure daily living expenses. Roodabeh and Ali are
particularly affected because they are in an extremely difficult situation
and require urgent assistance.
I realize you have many refugee applicants to whom you must respond.
However, due to the urgent circumstances facing queer refugees
particularly, I urge you to assist Roodabeh and Ali and grant them refugee
status as soon as possible.
Your timely, informed and sensitive treatment of this case is greatly
appreciated.
Sincerely,
(Name) |
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