ESCAPE FROM IRAN

“I asked myself at the time if it was all worth it,” he said.  “There was one period on the journey when I went about 18 hours without food or water – and it was so cold.”

After three days, the lorry reached it destination.  Ramin got off and found himself in Dover.  He was spotted by a security guard and hand over to the British authorities.

He was treated well by British immigration, he said.  “I did not speak English then.  Through an interpreter, I applied for political asylum.

“They were very friendly and I was sent to a hostel for a good night’s sleep – and some food,” he said.  “And in the hostel, I was treated very well.”

Ramin was allowed to stay in the short term.  After two months, he was called to the Home Office immigration facility in Croydon.

“Although it was very busy there, they did try to help me,” he recalled.  “I was interviewed and asked how I managed to get out of Iran and to England.

“It was at this interview I told them I was gay.”

The interviewing officer was a Muslim woman.  “She told me that there was not enough evidence,” Ramin said.

“She just didn’t believe me – there is not enough evidence,” he repeated.

He was expecting the worse.  And sure enough a letter from the Home Office arrived.  It refused him asylum.

Then came the appeal procedure.  And Ramin was allocated a solicitor who he said “was not very good”.

“I was not even told that I had a tribunal appeal, so I missed that.  And when I questioned the solicitor, I was told that they were sorry, but they forgot to tell me.”

A year after his arrival in the United Kingdom came Ramin’s one and only day in court.

“Again, I was disappointed with my legal representation.  It was as though they had little time for my case,” he said.

In an ironic twist to Ramin’s story, he got involved with an Iranian Christian organisation.

“They told me that I could be cured of being gay and they promised me that if I went along with them, I would be able to stay in England,” he said.

He admitted that he was confused.  “I was desperate for help,” he said.

“Even this Christian group failed to turn up in court.”

The judge postponed the court hearing for a month.  But when the case was resumed, there was no help for Ramin.  The judge found for the Home Office and not long after came the letter saying he was going to be deported.

Up to then, Ramin had not made contact with the gay community.  But he then started getting contacts.

“To be honest, I thought that I would be let down by them as well,” he said.

Ramin was proved to be wrong.  Two years ago, he met “Bill” – again, not his real name.  It was not long before the couple became partners.

Through the gay community, Ramin met an immigration advisor.  The result now is that his case is “under investigation”.

Even so, Ramin fears a knock on the door – or a letter arriving.

“I love my country, but not the political system,” he said.  “If there wasn’t a problem of me being gay, I would never have left.”

He is well aware of reports from Iran in the past year of hangings of gays in Iran.

“Yes, it goes on,” he insisted.  “The religious courts do execute men and women because they are gay.  The Basij see to that.”

For now, Ramin and Bill live together happily in suburbia, and are about to celebrate two years together as partners.

That, they both consider, should be enough evidence for the Home Office.