March 11, 2008
Gay Iranian Man's Asylum Request Denied
Update (4pm EST)
CNN-- The Netherlands has rejected an asylum plea by a gay Iranian teenager trying to escape possible persecution in his homeland.  Mehdi Kazemi believes he will face persecution if he is made to return to Iran. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, had originally sought asylum in Britain, where he was taking classes on a student visa, because, he said, his boyfriend had been executed in Iran after saying he and Kazemi had been in a gay relationship. Britain's Home Office rejected his request, prompting Kazemi to flee to Netherlands. Tuesday's decision by the Council of State -- the highest administrative court in the Netherlands --means Kazemi could face deportation to Britain, which he fears will send him back to Iran. Council spokeswoman Daniela Tempelman said the council decided it must comply with the Dublin Regulation and return Kazemi to Britain. Kazemi's initial appeal for asylum in the Netherlands, made in October, was rejected. He then appealed unsuccessfully to a regional court in December. His last appeal was to the Council of State in January. Tempelman said that in order for the Dutch court to consider Kazemi's asylum application, he needed to prove that Britain did not handle his asylum application properly, but he wasn't able to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the British government. Kazemi now has exhausted his chances for appeal in the Netherlands and, according to Tempelman, could be returned to Britain on a short notice. The British government about six months ago accepted the Dutch request to take him back. Kazemi's lawyer will have the option of taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights to request an "interim measure" that could allow Kazemi to stay in Europe until further notice. "If anybody signs his deportation papers and says, look, he's got to be deported to Iran, that means they have signed his death sentence," said Kazemi's uncle Saeed, who asked CNN to withhold his last name over safety concerns. Gay rights activists in Europe and Iran are also researching Kazemi's case. "When Britain is prepared to send a young man back to possible execution, that is inhumanity on a monumental scale," said Peter Tatchell, an activist for gay campaign group OutRage. "And I hang my head in shame, as a British citizen." In a written statement, Britain's Home Office said that even though homosexuality is illegal in Iran and homosexuals do experience discrimination, it does not believe that homosexuals are routinely persecuted purely on the basis of their sexuality. 5 Comments
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If Mr. Mehdi violated the law in his country he should be deported in order to face his punishment.
Iran has every right to make homosexuality a crime. No sympathy here. (Anonymous) 8:19 PM
I am from Holland. Giving Mehdi safty will only create "home grown" terroists.
I can understand that we shouldn't try to change other countries law systems...they run their own show, but I put my foot down for the thought that execution is used so 'freely' with no real reasons. And i understand that we are culturally different. But execution for homosexuality or for any other reason.
If we can save anyones life then we should do it... It seems like we only take in large amounts of refugees into our countries when theirs is in war. But one gay guy needs help and we turn our backs...
What crime did this man commit other than being gay? Being gay is a physical state. It is not emotional nor is it psychological, for the most part. It has been proven that being gay is biological. When the old & new testments and Koran were written this was not understood and it was considered an abberation. Now modern science has proven otherwise. Why should this man face possible execution for being something he has no control over. Let him stay in England or somewhere else where he can live his life in peace.
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