Action to defend Mehdi Kazemi March 22nd

On Saturday March 22nd at 2pm Middle East Workers' Solidarity will be staging a protest opposite Downing Street in defence of Mehdi Kazemi, a gay Iranian asylum seeker who the British government plans to send back to Iran on the grounds that if gay Iranians are "discreet about their sexuality", they will not get in trouble.

In fact, Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend in Iran has already been executed for being gay, and the regime knows about Mehdi Kazemi and will likely kill him if he returns. We are demonstrating to demand that he should not be sent to his death in Iran, and that he should be allowed to stay in Britain if he so chooses.

Saturday March 22nd, 2pm, Downing Street. Nearest tube Westminster/Charing Cross

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Gay Syrian teenager faces deportation

In a case with close parallels to that of Mehdi Kazemi, a Syrian teenager is being threatened with deportation back to his homeland, where gay people are persecuted. The Syrian Embassy has described homosexuality as a "disease", which the country wants to "treat".

His only crime was to be gay. For that he was half-drowned, brutally beaten and then fell into a coma. He survived, escaped from jail, fled his country and eventually arrived, exhausted and bedraggled, here in Scotland. And now the Government wants to send him back.

Read more at Scotland on Sunday

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Mehdi Kazemi review

The UK government has announced that it is to review the case of Mehdi Kazemi, which offers hope for anti-deportation activists who have campaigned in defence of the young Iranian gay man.

However, the fight is not over. Mehdi is not yet safe, and neither is Pegah Emambakhsh, the Iranian lesbian woman threatened with deportation. Neither has the government sorted out the racist and homophobic immigration system which has repeatedly sent LGBT people and others back into perilous situations in their 'home' countries.

We will be demonstrating as planned at 2pm on March 22nd opposite Downing Street.

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George Galloway's comments on Mehdi Kazemi

Middle East Workers' Solidarity have called a demonstration for March 22nd in defence of Mehdi Kazemi, and support the international campaign against his deportation to Iran.

We were therefore extremely disappointed to hear today the comments of George Galloway MP on a Channel 5 talk show, playing down the homophobic nature of the Iranian regime and slandering Mehdi Kazemi's boyfriend. Among other comments, Galloway alleged that Mehdi's boyfriend had not been hanged because he was gay, but instead because of "sex crimes with young men".

Galloway went on to insinuate that those who defend Kazemi are adding to "propaganda against Iran", implying that they support a war drive against that country.

Galloway's claims are ill-informed and non-sensical, even beyond the obvious fact that Iran has repeatedly executed men for being gay, since "sodomy" is a capital offense, and does not even spare under-18s who commit this "crime".

It is also nonsense to claim that criticising the British government for planning to deport a man whose life is in danger in some way amounts to supporting its imperialist ambitions. Indeed, what activists including Middle East Workers' Solidarity campaigners are doing is highlighting the government's contempt for democracy and human rights.

Nor do we accept that opposing war and sanctions against Iran - which we do, wholeheartedly, since it can bring no progress - means whitewashing the Ahmedinejad regime and pretending that it is a bastion of democracy. The anti-war movement needs to tell the truth if it is to deserve to get a hearing. Opposing war is part of our solidarity effort, but not to the exclusion of our other principles.

The video of Galloway's comments is here

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Pegah Emambakhsh faces deportation to Iran

An Iranian lesbian who fled to Britain after her girlfriend was arrested and sentenced to death faces being forcibly returned after losing the latest round in her battle to be granted asylum.

From the Independent

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New website for Mehdi Kazemi campaigners

There is a new website for the international campaign to defend Mehdi Kazemi, the young Iranian gay man who is being threatened with deportation back to Iran and execution.

The site is at www.medhikazemi.com

Yesterday a Dutch court decided to reject Mehdi's application for asylum, on the grounds that his case is a matter for the UK government to which he originally applied for asylum.

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Mehdi must stay – No deportations to Iran

Peter Tatchell speaks out in defence of gay Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi

Gay Iranian asylum applicant Mehdi Kazemi is in detention in the Netherlands. He is fighting attempts by the Dutch government to return him to the UK.

Mehdi fled Britain and sought asylum in the Netherlands because the British government wants to deport him back to Iran. The gay human rights group OutRage! campaigns on asylum issues and supports Mehdi Kazemi’s claim for refugee status. OutRage! spokesperson Peter Tatchell said

"The Home Office decision to deport Mehdi back to Iran is shameful and reckless. If returned to Tehran, he will be at risk of imprisonment, torture and execution. Gay men in Iran are hanged from public cranes using the barbaric method of slow strangulation, which is deliberately designed to cause maximum suffering. This deportation order borders on a criminal decision. It violates the government's legal obligations under the Refugee Convention. The Home Office country report on Iran ignores the true scale of homophobic repression, in order to justify the deportation of lesbian and gay Iranians. I have been tipped off by a senior Home Office official that government orders are to cut asylum numbers at almost any price. Staff are encouraged to assume that all asylum applicants are bogus and to play down the merits of individual cases, such as Medhi’s".

Background

Here is the Everyone organisation’s link about Medhi's case. Please scroll down to read Mehdi’s own statement, as given to the Iranian Queer Rights Organisation:

Need to reform the handling of LGBT asylum claims

“The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith MP, must urgently remedy her department's five failings with regard to the treatment of LGBT asylum claimants,” added Mr Tatchell.

“Currently, the Home Office stands accused of:

- No training on sexual orientation issues for asylum staff and adjudicators
- No explicit official policy supporting the right of refugees to claim asylum on the grounds of sexual orientation
- No action to stamp out the abuse of LGBT refugees in UK asylum detention camps
- No accurate, up-to-date information on the victimisation of LGBT people in violently homophobic countries
- No access to adequate legal representation for LGBT asylum applicants

“These are systemic failings by a callous and indifferent government that is more interested in cutting asylum numbers than in ensuring a fair, just and compassionate asylum system,” concluded Mr Tatchell.

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