The asylum seekers have left Iran with enormous difficulties in hope of finding refuge in neighboring Turkey, There is no need to list the countless violations of human rights by Islamic Republic of Iran, as it is well known to the world, These asylum seekers have been languishing in Turkey for years, and UN has not even considered them for resettlement in a third country yet, while in turkey they are deprived of any rights or assistances, they have been under enormous pressure, imagine waking up each day not allowed to go to school, to work, to leave your immediate surroundings, dependent on international aid workers for food and healthcare, hopeless and helpless. This is the state of Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey.
Hurriyet Daily News of Turkey on July 28-2010 writes:
“It is not enough for Turkey to simply tolerate the presence of the refugees in its territory. Under the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention, Turkey has a legal obligation to safeguard their basic rights and dignity. Furthermore, as a democratic state, it also has a political obligation to support victims of the repression by the Islamic republic. This means first of all three things: 1) ending the legal limbo, in which the refugees currently find themselves in Turkey and which prevents them from working and sustaining their livelihoods; 2) placing curbs on the activities of the Iranian agents who intimidate and sometimes attack the refugees; 3) not putting obstacles on the way of the politically active refugees who wish to peacefully act against the Islamic republic. Turkey’s civil society, media and the opposition should demand that the government act swiftly and decisively in this regard, its friendship with the Islamic republic notwithstanding.
Turkish laws, bizarrely, deny asylum to refugees from non-European countries, which means that Iranians have to apply to the local office of the UNHCR in the hope that a Western country will grant them asylum. Their requests can be processed during a period of up to three years, and in the meantime Turkish authorities send asylum-seekers to provincial towns in Turkey for temporary settlement. There they are legally barred from getting a job, but they still have to pay local residence fees of up to $200 every six months, and are responsible for their food and living expenses. Worse still, according to the Association for Solidarity with Asylum-Seekers and Refugees, a Turkish nongovernmental organization, there have been cases when the refugees were threatened or even attacked by suspected agents of the Islamic republic. “
And on Sept 15-2010 Hurriyet Daily News writes:
“An OMID delegation interviewed Iranian refugees and asylum seekers as well as organizations to help these migrants in Turkey .Two refugees reported to the OMID’s delegation that they had been assaulted by Farsi-speaking men. Another refugee reported being questioned and threatened while in the hospital by representatives of the Iranian government stationed at a consulate in Turkey,” said the report .Not only refugees in Turkey, but their families left in Iran have been threatened or arrested by the Iranian security forces, according to the report. Many refugees reported that their parents and other family members had been contacted, threatened or arrested in Iran. Due to these ongoing threats and contacts by the security forces, many Iranian refugees reported high levels of stress, insomnia, migraines and other symptoms, suggesting a lack of psychological well-being and ongoing “re-traumatization,” said the report.”
The frustration and psychological condition that resulted from a prolonged waiting under these unbearable conditions, and indecision of UN have left the asylum seekers in depression and very bleak future. The condition and treatment of Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey is contrary to all international laws and norms that UN is responsible for its implementation,
I request your office to bring this matter to the attention of the UN office in Ankara , Turkey , and request UN to pay immediate attention to Iranian asylum seekers , and remind the UN that accelerating the process of resettlement is the right approach for resolving this problem ,
Thanks for being a voice for voiceless people
«نوشته فوق می تواند نظر نویسنده باشد و الزامن نظر رادیو کوچه نیست»
