Iranian asylum seekers in Rosebery Avenue tent protest - Trio who fled persecution on hunger strike

Published: 29 April 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

THREE Iranian asylum seekers who have erected a tent on a street in the heart of Islington will today (Friday) mark their 32nd day on hunger strike today.

Kiarash Bahari, Ahmad Sadeghi-Pour and Morteza Bayat have set up camp on Rosebery Avenue in Farringdon after being told to quit the UK and return to Iran, where they say they could be tortured, or killed. 

The refugees say Britain’s asylum system has left them homeless, penniless and unsafe. 

Political activist Kiarash, 27, arrived in June last year claiming the Iranian authorities broke his leg, numerous fingers, and damaged a kidney after he tool part in demonstrations in Tehran before the 2009 presidential elections.

“At the start I had huge trust in the British system.” he said. “I thought it was based on fairness and kindness. I was emotional when I first arrived here, because I had huge faith that this country would help me.”

Bahari says he witnessed the rape of more than 50 teenage boys and men during a two-month imprisonment at the high-security Ghezel-Hesar prison, 12 miles west of Tehran.

“That was the worst prison, but I had been in two others before where I was physically tortured,” he said. 

“I remember there was a 17-year-old boy who was so weak and terrified of everyone. He knew he wanted change in Iran, for women and men to be equal, and that’s why he had been demonstrating, but he was just a little boy. 

“One day the high-ranking authorities decided to order his gang rape. A curtain was drawn around his cell that night, and in the morning he was like a ghost – unable to walk or make a sound. I did not see him eat or sleep after that. 

“He is now in the UK, fighting not to be sent back to Iran, but he can’t prove these things and it’s about if the Home Office officials believe him or not. We all arrived here emotionally shattered people, whether we had that happen or we witnessed it with fear running through us.”

Dozens of supporters have been sitting around the tent, which is outside Amnesty International's UK headquarters.

Ahmad, 56, claims he was also beaten and tortured in prison after distributing pro-democracy leaflets in the early months of 2010. 

He said: “I knew one family who had been asked what their jobs were in Iran. They used to run a type of social food and drink cafe that you don’t get in England. So when the translator spoke to one Home Office interviewer he said they had ran a coffee shop. Another translator came to the second Home Office interview and said it had been a kebab shop. 

“The official called it a contradiction, and named that as a reason why their asylum application could have failed.”

Morteza, 32, arrived in London in August last year, having endured electric shocks, having his nose broken and being regularly beaten in prison – he was a supporter of Iran’s pro-democratic Green movement in 2009. 

“I was provided a solicitor [via Legal Aid] to represent me in my asylum tribunal.” he said, speaking in Farsi. 

“The solicitor was awful, did not care about my case, and failed to turn up in court. I did not understand what was going on because I understood less English then than I do now. 

“I knew it had gone horribly wrong though, and knew I had to do something. So I went to a refugee organisation who provided me a translator. They got a solicitor to look into it all for me, even though he couldn’t represent me, as I was not eligible for Legal Aid anymore. 

“He saw my previous solicitor had failed, and gave the Home Office proof. They saw what had happened and gave me the right to instruct a new solicitor through legal aid, so they could hear my case again – properly. 

“But by the time that decision had been made, I'd already been given notice to leave the UK.”

In a statement, the Home Office responded: “These individuals were given every opportunity to make their representations to us as well as a right to appeal the decision to the courts.

“All of these individuals have had access to independent free legal advice as well as a designated UK Border Agency case owner who considered their case on its individual merit.”