MP Emily Thornberry’s support ends asylum seekers' hunger strike

Published: 13th May, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

THREE Iranian refugees who have spent the past month camped out on the street ended their 30-day hunger strike on Tuesday after MP Emily Thornberry stepped into their asylum battle.

She will be supporting them in submitting fresh claims for asylum.

“Whether they live in a house or they live on the street, they are in my constituency, so it is my duty to look after them,” Ms Thornberry said. 

Kiarash Bahari, 27, Ahmad Sadeghi-Pour, 56, and Morteza Bayat, 32, set up camp on Rosebery Avenue in Farringdon last month, after being told to quit the UK and return to Iran, where they said they could be tortured, or killed for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations.

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

“My aim was to persuade them to come off hunger strike, and I did,” Ms Thornberry said. “I said to them that I had been in touch with their solicitors, and I reassured them that they would be given a chance to submit fresh evidence to a tribunal.”

At noon on Tuesday, they agreed to cease their hunger strike, and were taken to the Whittington Hospital, where they are being slowly weaned back on to a normal dietary routine. 

Political activist Kiarash arrived in June last year, claiming the Iranian authorities broke his leg, numerous fingers and damaged a kidney after he took 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.”

Morteza arrived in London in August last year, having endured electric shocks, a broken nose 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 with 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.”

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 café 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.”

Ms Thornberry said that she hoped that the outcome would be positive.

“I am supporting their case to the Home Office and working with their solicitors,” she added.