Press Release
International Federation of Iranian Refugees
Amini raises demands to the Home Office
Support Amini's Demands!
28 May 2003
For more information, contact
Maryam Namazie, Executive Director, International Federation of Iranian
Refugees at +44 (0) 7719166731; Sam Azad, IFIR
Regional Organiser, Tel: +44 (0)7929917756 / +44 (0)7739378177; or Reza Moradi, director of the Federation in the UK at +44
(0)7730846433.
A tribunal has refused the UK Secretary of State permission
to appeal against a court decision to grant indefinite leave to remain for
Abbas Amini.
Mr. Amini, an asylum seeker from Iran, began a hunger strike
and stitched up his ears, eyes and lips to protest against the way he and other asylum seekers have been treated by the British
government. He has not eaten since last Wednesday, and not had water or any
other fluid since last Thursday.
Mr Amini is continuing with his protest because, as he has
said from the beginning, he is protesting on behalf of all asylum seekers,
regardless of where they are from. He is making four requests of the Home
Office before he is prepared to take some water:
1. The Home Office must review its asylum procedures
regarding refusals and appeals, and review its policy that challenges decisions
granting asylum seekers the right to remain in the UK, regardless of their
background or previous circumstances.
2. The Home Office must become more open with solicitors
representing asylum seekers on how refusal decisions are made.
3. The Home Office must ensure that its staff's attitude
towards ALL asylum seekers is to treat them with respect and humanity.
4. Mr Amini's main concern is for
other asylum seekers who have been refused the right to remain in the UK and
are facing removal. He says that these people should not be removed
especially to countries like Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan which have had no
human rights for decades. He is asking the government to recognise any
countries that do not reach human rights standards, and to grant protection to
all asylum seekers from these countries. They should not be describing Iran as
a "safe" country after the experiences he has had.
Mr. Amini has stressed that he is continuing his protest on
behalf of ALL asylum seekers, regardless of where they are from. "I think
the Home Office ought to come out with a full apology, not just to me, but to
ALL asylum seekers for the way they have treated them."
Mr Amini said: "When I heard the news [about the Home
Office decision to deny the right to appeal] I was saddened it did not make
me happy. Only when all asylum seekers facing the same problems have received a
positive decision…will I be happy. This is not just my problem. It is the
problem of ALL asylum seekers."
He said that he was not worried that his family would ask
him to change his mind and take some water. He said having spoken to his family
by phone this morning only made him more determined to continue with his
protest: "This morning I spoke to them and they gave me hope and
aspiration to continue. I felt hundreds of times better. They prefer that if I
have to die in Britain it is far better than that I am returned to Iran."
He said his family trusted him and shared his beliefs, and that they would leave
the decision whether to continue his protest with him, and respect his
decision.
He said that asylum seekers did not come to Britain for
economic reasons. "They would not have made the hazardous journey to
Britain if conditions in their own countries were better."
Speaking of his life in Iran he said: "As far as my own
life went, I never had any happy times. My life in Iran has always been unhappy
and difficult."
"The best thing I would wish for - whether I live or
not is one day to bring an end to 2500 years of oppression and degradation
[in Iran]. I hope that one day Iran can be admitted into human society. I hope
one day Iran will become an example to the rest of the world."
Even though Mr Amini has achieved a great deal of positive
coverage in the media, he says he will continue with his protest. "I will
never trust these people [at the Home Office]…How can I trust people who have
admitted they have betrayed us [Asylum Seekers]."
He said that many local people in Nottingham supported him.
"A huge number of people fully understand us [asylum seekers] because they
live in the same conditions we do." He said he was in contact with many
local people and that he had had a lot of support from them.
In Britain, he said, "everyone is very respectful and
humane in their behaviour towards me even people I don't know smile at me in
the street. I think many people care about peoples' rights and attend human
rights rallies. I am very appreciative of the way I and others have been
treated here."
Mr Amini said "Even in Nottingham, in the centre of
Britain, all kinds of local people have told me the government does not treat
them fairly. I can say this because they have told me themselves. They feel let
down by the government."
Mr. Amini's case has been badly
handled by the Home Office, which has now had to admit that it has made a
mistake. Mistakes of this kind prove very costly, since they affect peoples'
lives.
Sam Azad, International Federation
of Iranian Refugees.
-end-
* You can send letters of support
to Amini via ifir@ukonline.co.uk.
* Send letters of protest to the
UK Home Office and defend Abas Amini's
demands
Letters can be sent to:
Home Secretary David Blunkett
Home Office, 50 Queen Annes Gate, London SW1H 9AT
Fax: +44 20 7273 4647
public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
Please send copies to ifir@ukonline.co.uk.