■ Lord Ali: “Does the Minister agree with his department’s advice that it is safe to send gay men to Iran if they are discreet?”

LONDON, March 12, 2008  –  The Home Office needs to understand that gay men and women face arrest and execution in Iran, the Liberal Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality group DELGA said last night.

In a statement, DELGA said it was “disappointed to learn that Mehdi Kazemi, a gay Iranian who fears he will be executed if he is deported back to his home country, has had his claim for asylum in the Netherlands overturned. Mehdi fears for his safety if he is returned to Iran, where he says his boyfriend named him as a partner before being executed.”

The Dutch authorities have rejected his claim under the 2003 Dublin Regulation and speaking in The Hague yesterday, a Dutch government spokesperson said that 19-years-old Mehdi would now be sent to the UK, the first European country he entered.

An earlier claim for asylum in the UK has already been turned down, as was an appeal.

“What is needed is a Home Office understanding that gay, lesbian and bisexual Iranians face arrest and execution,” said DELGA chair Jen Yockney.

“Refusing asylum to anyone who risks torture and death because of their sexual identity shows that the Government’s commitment to LGBT issues – and to international human rights – is at best shaky.”

Dutch Democratic MP Boris Ham is reported to have asked the deputy justice minister Nebahat Albayrak to discuss the matter of Mr. Kazemi with the UK authorities in a bid to prevent a deportation to Iran.

Earlier yesterday in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the British Parliament, government Home Office spokesperson Lord Bassam of Brighton told peers:

“I can assure the noble Lord that the United Kingdom Government are committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need, in accordance with our commitments under international law.  Asylum applicants have access to the independent appeals process through the courts.

But Lord Roberts of Llandudno said the reply “is not quite as full as I would expect and hope.”

“Since the ayatollahs came to reign in Iran, humanitarian organisations tell us that 4,000 lesbians and gay men have been executed in that country,” said before asking what representations have the government made and what representations do they continue to make about that policy.

“Will [Lord Bassam] assure us on behalf of the Government that no one, gay or otherwise, will be deported to any country where they will be persecuted, tortured or executed.” He asked?

Lord Bassam replied that he had read “with serious concern” the human rights figures that had been quoted.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office regularly raises concerns with Iran in the context of individual cases, most often around methods of punishment used by that regime.

“Representations are also made through the EU, as this has been found to be the most effective way of making such representations,” he continued.

“The Border and Immigration Agency enforces the return of Iranian gay men only when we are satisfied that they are not in need of protection.

“We do not seek to enforce returns to Iran unless our decision-making processes and the independent courts are satisfied that it is entirely safe to do so.

Lord Alli, one of two openly gay men in the House of Lords, pointed out that homosexuality is illegal in Iran and punishable by death.

“This young man’s partner was hanged at an early age simply for being gay.

“The Home Office’s position is that gay people can return to Iran safely, provided that they are ‘discreet’

“Heaven knows what that means.  Does the Minister agree with his department’s advice that it is safe to send gay men to Iran if they are discreet?  What action will the Minister take if that advice proves wrong and this young man is executed for being gay?

“If I or any Member of this House was in that position, I hope that the Minister would have a good answer to that question,” Lord Ali said.

Lord Bassam replied that he could not speak hypothetically.  “Yes, we make returns when we feel that it is safe to do so,” he said.

“We do not believe, however, that it would be right to make returns where it is unsafe to do so.  I would argue that we are extremely cautious in how we operate returns and that approach has proven to be very effective in the past.”

Lord Avebury then asked if the Government thinks it is safe to return to Iran anyone who is a known gay,  “including not only the individual whom we are talking about but Miss Pegah Emambakhsh, whose case was also reported in the Independent the other day?

“Does not the noble Lord think that it would be a good example to generalise the policy followed by the Netherlands and Germany and put a moratorium on the
return of all gay people throughout the whole of the European Union,” he asked?

Lord Bassam replied that the government was “extremely cautious about the way in which we treat these cases”.

He continued by saying that Lord Avebury had made an important point about human rights in so far as gay men and women were concerned.

“We follow that very carefully when we give detailed consideration to these cases.  They go through a rigorous
appeals and court process.  Obviously we have to follow and respect the integrity of that process.”
 

SEE ALSO

Gay Iranian Teen Loses Appeal in Netherlands Court – To Be Returned to UK.  Cashman Takes Plight of Mehdi to the European Parliament.  Mehdi Kazemi, the 19-years-old gay Iranian has lost his fight to remain in the Netherlands, a Dutch judge ruled this afternoon.  His uncle, Saeed, was told the news by the Dutch lawyer on the telephone. (UK Gay News, March 11, 2008)

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