Norway refuses gay Iraqi asylum

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect new information that another Iraqi Kurdish asylum seeker, whose story had strong similarities and had also been reported in the Norwegian media, was in fact a different person. That Iraqi has been granted asylum. His name and picture have been removed from this story at his request.

A gay Iraqi has been refused Norwegian asylum and told to 'go home and be discrete'.

The High Court accepted that 'Azad' was gay and that gay men in Iraq are at risk, including at risk of being killed, but it ruled that 'Azad' must comply with Iraq's socio-cultural norms'.

'Azad' is a Kurd and the Immigration authorities claimed that risks to gay men in the Kurdish region "differs greatly" from the rest of Iraq and that he can seek protection from the Kurdish autonomous region's authorities.

His lawyer, Jon Ole Martinsen, said that:

"In practice it means to hide your sexual orientation, for if it is discovered you will be in danger of being persecuted."

'Azad' told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that:

"My clan is going to kill me. Gays and lesbians cannot live openly in Iraq."

So-called 'honor killing' is a major problem in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Last month a report emerged of police raiding a gay party in Kalar, a small town in Kurdistan, arresting 25 men.

In September the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) released a report which said that attacks on LGBT in Iraq had continued in 2010.

'Azad' has been in a relationship with Norwegian Odd Arne Henriksen since they met in 2006. Henriksen said that if 'Azad' was sent to Iraq he would go with him.

"In our family we don't give up so easily. We stand at the very end," he told NRK.

Last year, in a landmark decision, the British Supreme Court, in a case involving a Cameroonian and an Iranian, decided that gay or lesbian asylum seekers could not be told to 'go home and be discrete'.

Martinsen said that 'Azad''s case will now be taken up to the Norwegian Supreme Court.

In the last two years, 40 of 52 gay people seeking asylum have been rejected according to Norwegian government figures. The Ministry of Justice said in an e-mail to NRK that they are considering changing how LGBT asylum cases are dealt with.

"They must say that it cannot be required of each applicant to hide his [sexual] orientation on return", says Martinsen.

"Norway should be a leader that protects everyone, regardless of sexual orientation."

Other European countries, including France, do not return Iraqis and UNHCR continues to say it is unsafe to return asylum seekers to Iraq.

Last week the Iraqi Minister of Immigration Dindar Najman told AKnews that Baghdad airport will no longer admit Iraqis who are deported from Europe by force.

The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) have repeatedly accused the Iraqi government of signing a deal with European countries which deport Iraqis in return for dropping Iraqi debts. Among the countries that have started forced deportations via Baghdad since 2005 are Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

According to the IFIR 5,000 to 6,000 Iraqi refugees, most of them Kurds, have been deported from Europe since then.

Kurdistan-based chief of IFIR, Amanj Abdulla, told AKnews no European country has tried to send any refugee back to Iraq since the decision was made so the authority's resolve to enforce this ban remains untested.

Nevertheless, he valued the decision as "a positive step in favor of Iraqi refugees".

Related articles

• Iraqi parliament condemns deportations from Europe (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Documenting the lives of Iraq's gay refugees (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• UN reports on violent attacks on LGBT in Iraq (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

In Nepal, LGBT group wants to help refugees from South Asia

Source: Times of India

After organising beauty pageants for gays and transgenders, followed by extravagant same sex weddings, Nepal will now move to more sombre issues, becoming the first country in South Asia to offer shelter to battered gays.

While several Nepali NGOs have been running shelters for women, who are the victims of domestic violence, and survivors of trafficking, Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's pioneering gay rights organisation, is set to become the only NGO in South Asia to offer a shelter to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) who face violence in their own countries due to their different sexual orientations.

The LGBT Centre for South Asia, the first of its kind, is coming up in Kathmandu's Dhumbarahi area. The five-storey building will have conferencing facilities, a theatre, a clinic and a shelter for members of the community who face violence and death threats in their own countries.

"In countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan non-conformity is taboo and members of the community face violence and even the possibility of death," says Sunil Babu Pant, the founder of Blue Diamond Society and Nepal's only openly gay MP. 

"We had a pair of teenaged girls from Kolkata run away from home and come to us for help. One was from the Hindu community and one Muslim and there was additional parental anger. The shelter is meant for persecuted people like them."

In a gesture that has endeared it to Nepal's gay community, the republic's first Maoist government in 2008, headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, made budgetary allocations for them and the land for the centre was bought with the money - NRS 25-30 lakh a year. Further assistance came from the Danish and Norwegian governments. Norway donated $150,000 for the construction of two buildings after Blue Diamond Society, then working from rented offices in Kathmandu, faced regular trouble with landlords, who threw them out under pressure from neighbours.

The last eviction caused deep distress especially as Blue Diamond Society was then also running a hospice for gays with HIV/AIDS. Pant described how the sick patients had to be moved on stretcher. Currently, there are 20-30 people at any given time in the hospice, with some of them being at the terminal stage and disowned by their families.

Pant says the centre should be up and running in the next 15 months - provided they manage to raise the rest of the money needed. Currently, Blue Diamond Society is seeking to raise $150-170,000 to complete the project.

Read more »

Resource: LGBT asylum in Norway

LLH [Landsforeningen for lesbiske, homofile, bifile og transpersoner] works to ensure that persons who are being persecuted because of their sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression will be granted asylum in Norway, but we do not give legal aid in individual cases.

There are two other NGOs which give legal aid to refugees, including LGBT: NOAS and SEIF.

LLH focuses on working politically and structurally. LLH has advocated for guidelines for the case workers in asylum cases concering sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, which the Ministry for Justice has promised will be ready in March 2011. We also propose training of immigration personnel in LGBT issues.

It is possible to obtain refugee status from Norwegian immigration authorites on the basis of gender related persecution, also for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. It is not easy, though. We present here some information and recommendations based on our own and experience together with those of other Norwegian NGOs working with LGBT asylum seekers.  

1) The application procedure

The application procedure is rather complex, and can only start once you are on Norwegian territory. You can find more information about the procedure and requirements on the website of the immigration autorities, UDI.

2) "Well-founded fear of persecution" as stated in the 1951 Refugee convention

It is a requirement for obtaining protection (asylum) that one is in danger of being persecuted in the future. This means that past persecution is only one of several factors in determining whether the fear of persecution in the future is "well-founded".

"Persecution" means severe breaches of the UN human rights conventions. For more information about what this implies, you can visit the website of Amnesty International, or the Norwegian immigration authorities.
If it is possible to avoid persecution by finding another place to live within your home country, Norway is under no obligation to grant you protection.

3) Burden of proof

The applicant him-/her-/hirself has the main responsibility for proving that their fear is "well-founded". This includes both providing relevant and good general information about the human rights situation for LGBT people, and information about one's individual case.

Many who are persecuted on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression, do not really know much about homosexuality or transgender issues, they only know that they are different, and suffer. Deeply felt shame prevent and/or distrust towards public officials many from telling the real reason why they are seeking protection, in the hope that they will not need to tell anybody.  When such information comes late in the process it is often difficult to convince the authorities of its authenticity.

Recommendations from LLH

• LLH strongly recommends any person seeking protection because they fear persecution related to their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, to tell the real reason behind their application.
• You may ask for anonymized interpretation, or a female interpreter, or other solutions so that you may feel safe enough to tell your real story. The authorities are bound to try and meet your requests if possible and not overly costly or difficult.
• Try and provide as much and reliable documentation as possible about the general situation of LGBT persons in your home country.
• Try and provide as correct information, with relevant documentation when possible, about your individual claim.

New Dawn: How Africa is changing for the better on LGBT rights

Rwandan UN Ambassador Olivier Nduhungirehe

Source: Gay Times

By Paul Canning

Last December something rather historic happened in New York. The world voted in favour of the most basic gay right of all - the right to life.

A month earlier a group of Islamic and African countries had struck out 'sexual orientation' from a United Nations resolution on extrajudicial - non-state - killings. It had been in a long list of groups deserving protection.

The United States then announced they would try to get the vote reversed and 20 December it was. By a landslide.

Despite the vote being cast in apocalyptic terms (the delegate from the West African state of Benin said that "this vote determines the very future of humanity!" and that it would "go down in the annals of history") over a quarter of member states positively changed their votes - including a third of Africa.

Rwanda voted for gays and in an astonishing speech the delegate Olivier Nduhungirehe said it was not because of lobbying or threats but because of the lessons learned from the genocide that country had suffered.

"Whether or not the concept is defined or not, whether or not we support the claims of people with a different sexual orientation, whether or not we approve of their sexual practices – we must deal with the urgency of these matters and recognize that these people continue to be the target of murder in many of our societies, and they are more at risk than many of the other groups listed. This is unfortunately true, and recognizing this is not a call to give them special rights; it’s just recognition of a crime, that their fundamental rights, their right to life should not be refused. But to refuse to recognize this reality for legal or ideological or cultural reasons will have the consequence of continuing to hide our heads in the sand and to fail to alert states to these situations that break families."

Read more »

Resource: The Global Detention Project

Norway's Trandum Detention Centre

The Global Detention Project (GDP) is an inter-disciplinary research endeavour that investigates the role detention plays in states’ responses to global migration, with a special focus on the policies and physical infrastructures of detention. The project, which was initiated in October 2006 with funding from the Geneva International Academic Network, is based at the Graduate Institute’s Programme for the Study of Global Migration.

To assess the growth and evolution of detention institutions, project researchers are creating a comprehensive database of detention sites that categorises detention facilities along several dimensions, including security level, bureaucratic chain of command, facility type (is a given site an exposed camp, a dedicated migrant detention facility, or a common prison), spatial segregation (are there separate cells for criminals and administrative detainees, for women and men), and size. This data is gradually being ported to the GDP website in the form of maps, lists, and country profiles. Eventually, the project intends to make the entire database fully interactive with the website.

In December the project released five new reports covering Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Belize and detention at Europe's borders.

Read more »

Norwegian refugee and asylum system criticised

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Press TV

According to the Norwegian daily Dagbladet, teenagers from different countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Morocco, Russia and Palestine, face an uncertain future while waiting to be granted asylum to Norway.

The asylum-seeking teenagers living in a refugee camp in the city of Bodo in Norway's Nordland County were initially refused asylum by the Nordic country and are suffering from psychological problems.

Although officials organize recreational activities and programs to lift the spirits of teenage refugees, the camp still lacks standard living and hygienic conditions, and educational facilities.

One of the refugees in Bodo is a Palestinian man named Yousef, who has been waiting for asylum for almost twenty years.

According to Statistics Norway, 151,000 people or 3.1 percent of the Norwegian population had a refugee background at the beginning of 2010.

Norway's Immigration bureau, UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet), reported this week that 9,011 immigrants were granted Norwegian citizenship during the first 10 months of the year.

Another 4,280 were denied citizenship, which requires among other things legal residence in the country for seven of the past 10 years.

Many of Norway's new citizens came as refugees initially from Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. About 1,215 were from Iraq, with the next-largest concentrations coming from Somalia, Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Around 11,000 immigrants were granted citizenship last year, and Norwegian authorities predict the number will be about the same by the end of this year.

Mapping migration contributions by rich countries to poor ones

Source: Centre for global development

Which rich countries are doing the most to help poor ones? Rich and poor nations are linked in many ways—by foreign aid, commerce, the environment, and more. Each year, the CDI rates rich-country governments on how much they are helping poor countries via seven key linkages: aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. The CDI then takes the average for an overall score.

To see if countries live up to their potential to help, scoring adjusts for size. So small countries can beat big ones. Scores are on a standard scale and 5 = average.

• Explore the CDI. Go Inside the Index for the who, what, and why. Read key messages. Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

The migration component of the CDI compares rich countries on how easy they make it for people from poor ones to immigrate, find work or get education, send home money--and even return home with new skills and capital.

Read more »

Video: short film on gay man's relationship with migrant winning awards

Source: BBC Wales

By Laura Chamberlain

Magnus Mork from Norway has scooped the prestigious 2010 Iris Prize, the Cardiff-based International Gay and Lesbian Short Film Prize, for his film The Samaritan.

The Iris Prize Festival was held over 6-9 October, with 30 shortlisted films for the Iris Prize being screened as well as seven of the latest gay and lesbian feature films, all of which enjoyed their UK premières at the festival.

Mork's The Samaritan focuses on the relationship between Knut, a middle-aged lonely man in desperate need of company, and Mirza - an illegal immigrant in need of any help he can get. The film touches upon the limits between taking care of and taking advantage of; being used or abused.

Rebecca Matthews, chair of the Iris Prize jury, commented: "The jury felt that The Samaritan demonstrated deft and nuanced filmmaking: it told such a big, urgent story of real relevance in a small film.

"It was so beautifully shot, and through the filmmaker's masterly technique took us as viewers on a journey through place, people and characters and allowed us to creep into inscrutable corners.

"It is a film about human fears, trust, betrayal and also about political and social machinations told through an intimate personal encounter. We want to see much, much more from this director."

The human cost of European slashed refugee budgets and accelerated removals

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: Institute of Race Relations

Research from the Institute of Race Relations, including a review of 38 asylum and immigration related deaths in Europe over 18 months, shows the human cost of EU moves to slash budgets for refugee integration and accelerate the pace of removals - thereby undermining international conventions.In its report, Accelerated removals: a study of the human cost of EU deportation policies, 2009-2010, the IRR has documented the deaths of 28 men, 8 women and 2 boys, mostly asylum seekers, from January 2009 to 30 June 2010, in ten EU countries, Norway and Switzerland.

The vast majority of the deaths were either suicides linked to fear of deportation, or deaths that could have been avoided if asylum seekers were afforded proper medical care. Cuts to legal aid budgets and reduced access to justice, the targeting of specific nationals for charter-flight removals, overcrowding and appalling conditions in detention centres where hunger strikes are rife, are also placing individuals under abnormal levels of stress that are deleterious to health and undermine the will to live.

Unaccompanied children

Read more »

UNHCR concerned at ongoing deportations of Iraqis from Europe

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This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards at the press briefing, on 3 September 2010, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR is very concerned by on-going forced returns of Iraqi citizens from Western European countries. On September 1st, a chartered flight with 61 people on board, mainly Iraqis who had been residing in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom, landed at Baghdad airport. UNHCR has so far not been able to confirm reports that three Iranians were among those on board.

UNHCR's guidelines for Iraq ask governments not to forcibly return people originating from the governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah Al-din, in view of the serious human rights violations and continuing security incidents in these areas. Our position is that Iraqi asylum applicants originating from these five governorates should benefit from international protection in the form of refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention or an alternative form of protection.

UNHCR considers that serious risks, including indiscriminate threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from violence or events seriously disturbing public order, are valid reasons for international protection.

Read more »

Video: Iranian lawyer Mohammed Mostafaei talks to Amnesty International

• Call for LGBT activists to join protest against stoning and execution in Iran 

Iranian justice system 'in tatters'

Read more »

Norway: Government 'gets tough' on asylum

Image by Roger Sandum via Flickr

Source: Views and news from Norway

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg warned he intends to take an even tougher line on asylum policies, and will devote more funding for deportations. He wants to turn back people who have no just claims for asylum.

Under Stoltenberg’s plan, nearly 6,000 foreigners in Norway will be sent out of the country by the end of the year, reports newspaper Dagsavisen.

Stoltenberg told members of the Oslo Labour Party on Tuesday evening that his plan would have been extremely controversial just a few years ago. It’s still “uncomfortable,” Stoltenberg said, “but I believe we must dare to be clear in our asylum policies, and send home those foreigners who have no right to be in Norway.”

Those lacking legal residence papers in Norway will be sent out of the country. Additional funding should cut the time it takes to process asylum applications, ideally to 60 days. Funds will also be earmarked, Stoltenberg said, to upgrade an asylum center at Trandum that’s used to house those awaiting deportation.

There’s been a major decline in asylum applications, after a jump last year. Applications are down 36 percent so far this year.

Are Gay Iranians Being Deported from European Countries on ‘Erroneous Information’?

Source: UK Gay News commentary

Published earlier this month, a new report on information used by the UK Border Agency to make decisions on asylum cases found that reports on the situation for gays in Iran are “sub-standard or erroneous”.

And in the case of deporting gays back to Iran, and a few other countries, any mistake could well be lethal.

The report deals with the situation in the United Kingdom. But one wonders if there is a similar flaw in the Norwegian system where 40-years-old gay Iranian Asghar Hedayati could well be on the brink of deportation following his application for asylum six-and-a-half years ago.

From what he claims, he has had a number of appeals to the immigration department turned down. But he has not, he says, had his day in a court of law. Certainly, he has no access to a specialist immigration/asylum lawyer, he reports.

There is no way of checking on this as the Norwegian authorities are like the UK Border Agency inasmuch as individual cases are never discussed.

On their Website, LLH (Norwegian LGBT Association) wrote last November that “gay asylum seekers need protection”. The article, in Norwegian, which can be read HERE (in English through Google translator), addresses gay Iraqis and the problems they face with asylum applications in Norway.

But if there are major difficulties for Iraqis, it is fair to assume that it is the same for gay Iranians.

It could well be that gays seeking refuge in Norway from tyranny in their home country are in much the same position as those in the United Kingdom – they are playing a game of refugee roulette.

And “Refugee Roulette” is the title of a report produced by the UK Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) which found that recommendations from a previous review on improvements to use of Country of Origin Information (COI) had not been followed up.

COI is, of course, an important part of the refugee status determination process.

The IAS report noted that in the Iran COI report there is a paragraph that talks about “a park in Tehran where homosexuals can meet”. This paragraph is regularly relied upon to refuse a claim for protection on the basis that gays can exist ‘discretely’ in Iran.

This is something that does not quite tally with gay Iranians in Terhan who were filmed by a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television news crew three years ago is this particular park. (The video report is no longer available on the CBC’s Website, but it is now on YouTube – links are at the end of this commentary).

Meeting other gays in this park is dangerous, CBC was told. One gay Iranian said on camera it was “suicidal”

Perhaps a copy of this video should be part of the COI folder on Iran?

In UK appeal cases, the paragraph on the park is often used – and has shown to be wrong, as has the translation of the Iranian law on homosexuality, which provides for the death penalty for ‘lavat’ (sodomy).

IAS says in its report that “this point still has not been rectified and exists in the Iran COI report of August 2009”.

In December the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), and COC of the Netherlands launched an appeal for twelve youths under sentence of death for ‘lavat’. Their statement noted that in Iran “rather than paying attention to evidence, the judge often sentences defendants to death based on his speculations”.

With the support of Pride London, an Iranian gay man recently won asylum in UK. Just a few days earlier he spoke of his plight and what it was like to be gay in Iran to a Pride London meeting.

However, his ‘victory’ was on appeal as the Home Office said he should be returned to Iran as he only needed to keep his head down, be “discrete and not show that he was gay”.

Spain recently accepted its first gay Iranian for asylum. He had been arrested and tortured for a week by Iranian police who shouted “fags, the next day we will kill you” at him.

Now Norway is preparing to deport Iranian gay man, Asghar Hedayati, on the same “be discrete” basis which forms the apparent Home Office/UK Border Agency policy.

The ‘discrete’ theory does seem to be an amazing thing for a government to say – and UK Gay News has been in two Home Office appeals tribunals and actuall heard the “judge” (not a real judge but a chairman, apparently appointed by the Home Office) say the very same thing.

The IRS Report says that the Home Office policy documents, which have country specific guidance on particular asylum seeking groups for decision makers, are “not monitored by an independent monitoring body and arguably selected on the basis of policy considerations”.

And it is not only gay men who are treated this way by the UK government. Gay women are, as well. Remember Pegah Emanbakhsh?

“[Refugee Roulette] underlines what case workers, lawyers and campaigners have been saying for years – the system is riddled with homophobia,” says Paul Canning of LGBT Asylum News.

“Both Phil Woolas and, previously, Jacqui Smith have said that it is safe to send gays back to Tehran so long as they are “discrete”. Now we have the evidence showing that the advice they based this on was thoroughly flawed.

“Given the situation in Iran, it is high time Ministers intervened and shook up the system.

“It is sheer hypocrisy for the government to trumpet the Foreign Office’s pro-LGBT human rights strategy at the same time as we are sending gay people back to death zones like Iran, “ he suggested.

As one former UK Home Secretary famously said, the Home Office is “not fit for purpose”. And rarely does a senior politician actually tell the truth.

The bottom line to the entire situation in the UK is that, when it comes to the way gay men and women who are seeking refuge from violent persecution – even incarceration for life or death – in their own country, the government is practicing a form of ‘mental torture’ on some applicants.

• Canandian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC): Out in Iran: Inside Iran's Secret Gay World. A 20-minute report, filmed mainly in Tehran, broadcast in the Sunday Night programme on February 18, 2007. From YouTube:  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
• “Now I Have Lost Hope” – Gay Iranian Who Faces Deportation from Norway in Hours. A forty-years-old gay Iranian is today facing deportation from Norway – and it could be in less than 48 hours. (UK Gay News, January 24, 2010)

Action: Norway Threatens to Deport Asghar Hedayati to Iran

Image by mozzercork via Flickr

Source: Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR)

Asghar Hedayati is 40 years-old Iranian gay man who has been seeking asylum in Norway since 2003.  He is one of IRQR refugee cases who has not lucky so far, but he is still fighting for his rights.

"I was waiting for good news, everyday for the last seven years," he says.  "I was optimistic that I can start a normal life here in Norway.  Unfortunately, it did not happen for me, I lost my hope, energy, happiness, and future when I got negative answers from Norwegian authority.

"There is no light for my future now but I never ever give up," Asghar says in a letter to Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees - IRQR.

Asghar was in love with his boyfriend, Mr. J [for security reason we can not publish his name] and they were so happy but their happiness until Asghar's family forced him to get married.

It was really difficult time for Asghar and "J" as they could not 'come out' for their families and Asghar did not have any reason to convince his family that he did not want to get married.  Finally, he was forced to get married.

"I did not love her, I did not like her, and she was not the right person at all," he says.  "We lived together but we were together just at kitchen table.  I could not stop thinking about [Mr. J] for a moment."

After all the difficulties, he left Iran for Denmark and sought refugee status on basis of his sexual orientation.  Unfortunately, his asylum application was refused by the Danish government and he was scared to death because he did not want to be deported back to Iran.

So he fled Denmark, going to Norway where he applied for asylum. At that time, he did not imagine that one day he will be in the same situation again.  He has now received a letter from the Norwegian government that he has to leave by January 25, 2010 and he does not know what will happen in next day.

He has been told by the Norwegian authorities he can go back to Iran and "nothing will happen for you if you do not come out".

"How it can be possible?  Can they recommend it to Norwegians as well to just shut up and do not ask your basic rights?" Asghar said.

His life is now in danger and the Norwegian government has to grant his asylum because there a lot of evidence that Iranian gays in Iran are threatened because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.  There is no doubt his life will be in danger.

Asghar Hedayati is in an unjust situation and needs your urgent action.  Please show your support by writing to the Norwegian government to urge them to grant refugee status to Asghar Hedayati. You may copy and paste the sample letters (below) into an email and send it to the provide emails below or you may write your own letter in support of Asghar Hedayati. Please CC IRQR: info@irqr.net for tracking purposes. Thank you for your support.

Send your letters to:

Mr. Knut Storberget
Minister of Justice and the Police
E-mail: postmottak@jd.dep.no
Phone: Switchboard +47 22 24 90 90
Mailing address: Postboks 8005 Dep, 0030 Oslo, Norway

And

Immigration Appeals Board of Norway - Utlendingsnemnda
Email: postmottak@une.no
Telephone: +47 21 08 50 00
Mailing address: Utlendingsnemnda, Postboks 8165 dep. 0034 Oslo, Norway

In addition, if you or your organization is interested in hosting an event to support Asghar Hedayat or interview him, please contact us at info@irqr.net as soon as possible. Thank you for your support.

- - - - - -  Sample Letter - - - - -

Date:

To: Minister of Justice and Police, Mr. Knut Storberget, postmottak@jd.dep.no

     Immigration Appeals Board of Norway, postmottak@une.no

CC: IRQR, info@irqr.net

Subject: Norway threatens to deport Asghar Hedayati to Iran - Please stop him deportation


Dear Minister,

I am contacting you to request your assistance on a very urgent case involving Asghar Hedayati a gay Iranian, who is currently in Norway. I received some information about him through the IRanian Railroad for Queer Refugees, based in Toronto, Canada.

Asghar Hedayati is a citizen of Iran, with case number DUF 2003 046 114 08. He escaped Iran in 2003 because of his well-known fear of persecution on basis of his sexual orientation. He applied for asylum in August 2003, but the Norwegian Government unfortunately denied his asylum status for several times and he is now at risk for deportation.

His asylum judge said that he can live in Iran if does not 'come out', which is against fundamental human rights.  I would like to express my deep concern about his situation, as he will experience imprisonment, torture, and even execution upon his forced return to Iran.

I am urging you to reconsider this case under the spirit of respect for human rights and I am requesting you to grant Iranian queer refugees the full state of asylum in Norway because there a lot of evidence that Iranian queers in Iran are threatened because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.


Sincerely

X

- - - - - - - End of Sample Letter - - - - - -