I've been following up the story in this morning's Indy about the man facing deportation to Iran where he fears execution for being gay.
As usual the Home Office 'won't comment on individual cases' but this is what they say on the wider issue.
The government has 'concerns' about the treatment of gays in Iran, but it does not believe that the Islamic Republic presecutes homosexuals.
In support of this they say there's no evidence of anyone being prosecuted in Iran solely for being gay (contestable, I would have thought).
But here's the crazy bit. The Home Office acknowledges that homesexuality is illegal in Iran and can be punishable by death.
If that's not persecution, what is?
Written by Jonathan Levy, 06 March 2008
To Madnurse..Edith,
Well written and spot-on. Thank you. A true intellectual.
Posted by: Liam Hogan 10 Mar 2008 12:16:47
Carol-Ann
The matter under discussion is the deportation of a gay Iranian. It is at the top of this thread.
Posted by: Victor, NW Kent 7 Mar 2008 17:31:39
Victor
What matter should they be taking up with regard to gay and bisexual MPs? I wasn't aware there was one?
Posted by: carol-ann liverpool 7 Mar 2008 14:08:19
How many more of these people will now use the excuse of being Gay to avoid deportation.There is no way of proving it & it will set a dangerous precedent.I agree with S.Williams , these people should be sent home as they are not our problem,we have to set a marker down here to stop these people from making this excuse to avoid being deported.
Posted by: Liam Northants 7 Mar 2008 12:33:57
As I understand it, this is more a game of pass the parcel.
The man in question is in a detention center in the Netherlands, he is facing deportation back to the UK as he fled from here when his asylum claim was turned down.
If the Dutch deport him back to the UK, we are likely to send him back to Iran and to certain death. We have already looked into his asylum claim and found against him.
To me, it seems wrong to send this man back to Iran and certain death, we will not send suspected terrorists back to the USA in case they find them guilty and execute them, so why return this man, who is not a terrorist or a criminal, to a certain death in Iran. It is a clear case of our government going for the soft target, it is a shame this man is not a criminal as our government would give him £3000 to go, enough I suspect to bribe his way out of a death sentence.
Give the guy asylum, one more won't make any difference.
I agree with Patricia on this one.
Posted by: Madnurse 7 Mar 2008 12:32:13
Waine,
I don't suppose too many people, in the U.K., were aware of the death penalty for homosexuality in Iran, but obviously this latest story has brought it to everybody's attention.
Regarding your comment related to WMD's, I think the West is aware of many things that happen in Iran, but they don't really see the execution of homosexuals as being a threat to the Western world, and the government's comment about the persecution of gay people is typical of politicians!
Posted by: Merv. Beszant, Dubai 7 Mar 2008 12:26:20
Amazing. Here we have an individual who, if he is telling the truth , will certainly be hanged for a condition he can do nothing about. Meanwhile, our gaols are stacked with foreigners who have come here with the direct intention of destroying us and everything we stand for but we cannot deport them in case they suffer torture and death in their native country and that is against their yuman rights.
Our countrys'immigration policy makes no sense to me I'm afraid.
Posted by: Patricia 7 Mar 2008 10:24:10
MERV if gay executions in Iran are done in secret, how come everybody is talking about them. dose'nt add up to me.
Posted by: waine uk 7 Mar 2008 10:23:40
MERV no they don't they are an ally? so any embarrasment is not welcome. Funny how the west can tell that Iran is building WMDs but they can't get the inteligence to find out if gays are being executed.
Posted by: waine uk 7 Mar 2008 10:15:20
Given nEU-Labour's divide-to-conquer political tactics, finally the foundations of the plan has been revealed as flawed. Faced with targeting the pink-vote or the jihadist-vote nEU-Labour have gone with their militant supporters.
Carl-Ann, I know you are a supporter of "that" party, but it is unlike you to justify a complete wrong. I am sad to have to point this out to you.
Posted by: Fluffy, London, England 7 Mar 2008 06:38:01
If there had been any executions of gays in Iran it would have been plastered all over the western media, I don't recall seeing any instances, Demonisation is the game here, Iran unfortunatly is in the firing line. B
Posted by: waine uk 6 Mar 2008 17:27:32
---
Do you know how to use internet search engines?
Try one!
That is where the news is, not the censored stuff broadcast here for fear of offending Muslims!
Posted by: Mentor - Northumberland 7 Mar 2008 00:27:07
He is a Muslim he knew the risks, has he become an apostate, probably not - so he should find himself in his own country with it's own laws in accordance with Islam!
Maybe this case will lift the blinkers of those who support the Muslim and Islam.
Probably not!
Posted by: Mentor - Northumberland 7 Mar 2008 00:24:45
Can't believe all this fuss.
Why does no-one in the media, in particular the BBC, Sky News, Guardian and Independent, make a fuss about 200 million Christians who are persecuted for their faith ?
By the way, 60% of these are under the age of 18, and are murdered, raped, tortured and imprisoned
Posted by: Neil Turner, Watford 6 Mar 2008 21:06:58
Waine,
Does the Western Media cover the many executions that take place in Saudi Arabia? No they don't, and I am sure that there are many things that go on in Iran that we don't know about.
However each country has the right to run itself in the way that it thinks fit, so if Iran wants to execute homosexuals, that's up to them. I know that if I was a gay there I would definitely be inclined to take lots and lots of very cold showers, and watch lots of television!
Posted by: Merv. Beszant, Dubai 6 Mar 2008 18:56:43
There are about 70 gay or bisexual MPs. Why are they not taking this matter up?
Posted by: Victor, NW Kent 6 Mar 2008 18:19:04
If his appeal succeeds every asylum seeker and ilegal immigrant will suddenly annouce that they are persecuted gays from Islamic nightmare regime. We should send them to a country where in many communities women are for making babies and boys are for sexual pleasure.
Posted by: Steve Day Co Durham 6 Mar 2008 18:02:29
If there had been any executions of gays in Iran it would have been plastered all over the western media, I don't recall seeing any instances, Demonisation is the game here, Iran unfortunatly is in the firing line. B
Posted by: waine uk 6 Mar 2008 17:27:32
carol-ann,
Of course he will be executed in Iran as homosexuality is illegal in the Koran but as I said earlier, send him back to Iran because he isn't our problem.
Posted by: Stephen Williams 6 Mar 2008 15:38:36
I do sympathise with the man's situation, but he was obviously aware of the risks he took when he practiced homosexuality in Iran.
If he is allowed to remain in the U.K. it will obviously be setting a precedent, and others may decide to claim that they are gay, when in fact they are not, and I don't know how you establish whether they are telling the truth, other than to check for a pair of size 11, high heeled, shoes in their wardrobe!
Years ago the tried and tested method was to give the man a kiss and if he shut his eyes he was gay, but if he shut yours he wasn't!
Posted by: Merv. Beszant, Dubai 6 Mar 2008 15:19:08
Typical!.We've just been sold down the river by a few greedy mp's and the hot topic is discussing a gay iranian.
Posted by: seb,uk 6 Mar 2008 15:16:16
Jonathan
You know perfectly well that if the government had made an exception for this man - this blog would be alight with the indignation of those who think that the government is run according to some secret code informed only by 'political correctness'
I doubt that had this person not declared that he is gay, no one would take the slightest interest in it.
Let's face it, it is hardly in the government's interest to send someone back to Iran to face death.
Now we know that the President of Iran can be a little erratic and unpredictable and some might think that he would kill this bloke just to embarrass the Brits, but I don't think the guy is that bad, actually. It is one thing to stand up to the West with regard to nuclear weapons it is quite another to prove to the rest of the world that you are still living in the Middle Ages.
Of course the fact that Jacqui Smith is the Home Secretary has absolutely nothing to do with it.... has it guys?
If we take what you have said as absolute gospel and without the spin that journos are want to use from time to time, it would seem that the Home Office seem a little confused in their thinking - what we need to know is proof of the whether this guy really does face the death penalty if he returns to Iran and if the Home Office belief that there is no evidence that homosexuals are actually being persecuted or killed, stands up to scrutiny.
Posted by: carol-ann liverpool 6 Mar 2008 15:02:15
This nonsense about "not being able to comment on individual cases" is the best bureaucratic copout I have ever heard. I wonder why others have not drawn attention to the utter absurdity of it.
Virtually EVERY scandal affecting government takes place around an "individual case" !
So it excuses our Stalinist government and its bureaucratic running dogs from ever accounting for anything !
Posted by: Trevor 6 Mar 2008 14:52:17
Send him back to Iran because he isn't our problem.
Call me a right winger & heartless but I simply don't care quite frankly.
Posted by: Stephen Williams 6 Mar 2008 14:42:33
T said "Lets have it straight!"
LOL....
Posted by: Philip, Bristol 6 Mar 2008 14:26:35
You seem to be making the mistake of thinking Government policy is meant to bear any relation to the facts.
It's not that they don't believe gay people are persecuted in Iran, it's that they don't care that they are and don't want them claiming asylum here.
That's Gordon's "Britishness", I'm afraid...
Posted by: James, London 6 Mar 2008 14:23:53
If homosexuality is illegal in Iran isn't this a problem for gay Iranians rather than British subjects?
Posted by: Paul, Leeds 6 Mar 2008 13:52:41
Labour!
Shall I mention the three monkeys?
Lets have it straight!
The younger people of Iran are secrectly meeting each other to do what younger people do!
This shows that Irans leaders authority & old ways are fading fast!
I would guess that some of the younger Iranians are secretly meeting gay "friends" as well!
I dont agree with being gay but I would fight for their right to be gay! I have a funny feeling as the younger Iranians get power they will too!
Posted by: T. England 6 Mar 2008 12:46:35
Jonathan,
Good to see that the Home Office continues to put forward perfectly logical arguments to support their decisions!
Posted by: Merv. Beszant, Dubai 6 Mar 2008 12:35:16