On Wednesday April 25, the anti-riot division of the Greek police force
deported eight of the 11 detained Iranian asylum seekers, despite assurances from the Greek Minister of Justice
that they would not be deported from Greece to Iran. The IFIR has received unconfirmed reports that all eight have
been arrested by the Islamic regime upon arrival in Iran. The 11 had been arrested on April 4, 2001
for staging a sit-in at the UNHCR in Athens and sentenced to four months in
prison; they were demanding resettlement to a safe third country and
protection. The asylum seekers had been tortured and given electric shocks in prison.
Following an
international campaign initiated by the IFIR, which received widespread support
and IFIR organised protests at Greek embassies in four countries, the Greek
Minister of Justice intervened on behalf of the asylum seekers. The initial investigation revealed that the
names and details of the detainees were not even registered on the prison
database and that the government planned to clandestinely deport the asylum
seekers. The Minister informed the IFIR
representative in Greece that the 11 would not be deported and would be
released shortly. Despite said
assurances, the anti-riot police took all 11 to the airport and deported eight
of them “voluntarily.”
A Greek embassy
official in Germany informed our representative there that they could not
compromise their relationship with the regime for 11 asylum seekers.
While condemning this act of inhumanity, we hold the Greek government and the UNHCR directly responsible for the fate of the deported asylum seekers. We also call on groups and individuals to continue their efforts on behalf of the remaining three asylum seekers. Send your protest letters to the following: The Greek Prime minister: mail@primeminister.gr, Greek envoy to the UN: mission.greece@itu.ch and the UNHCR office in Geneva: GREAT@unhcr.ch and the UNHCR headquarters: HQAO00@unhcr.ch.