Iranian Refugees Are Under Threat; No Help From UNHCR

Meanwhile, a Kurdish journalist and refugees rights activist who manages a website on asylums and refugees named “HANA”, believes that what is happening to Iranian refugees is as a result of UNHCR acting in cooperation with Turkish immigration officials since 2018.

Sirwan Mansouri emphasized the fact that Turkey has violated all international laws in relation with refugees including the Geneva Convention on refugees. He then brought up the letter sent to the ECHR: “In an explicit violation of international law, the Turkish Immigration Office has even rejected those refugees whose cases were certified by the UNHCR. Now most of these refugees are in a state of uncertainty and at risk of deportation, while the UNHCR is only watching on the sidelines and doing nothing. These refugees were not given ID cards (known as Kimlik) in most cases and their appeals in Turkish courts will lead to no result.”

Mansouri said in conclusion that all should do their best to make UNHCR responsible for the refugees and to cut off Turkish unjustified interference.

Another expert, Walton K. Martin, is the director of Iranian Refugees Action Network, an advocacy charity for Iranian refugees registered in Pennsylvania. He stated: “In the past eight months, we have sent multiple letters to the following refugee agencies; the U.N. Refugee Agency in Washington, DC, the U.S. State Department, State Department PRM, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration service. Not one of our official letters concerning refugees, refugee status, and refugee protection were replied to by the U.N. or the U.S. government.”

He noted, “One phone call was returned by the UN. However, the representative who returned my call did not have the necessary information available and explained that she would gather the information and get back to us. We did not hear from the UN again after that conversation.”

Martin proclaimed that many refugees have voiced concerns over deportations to Iran, interrogation by Turkish police and intelligence officers, arrest of innocent refugees, and the lack of medical services that were cut off by President Erdogan of Turkey.

“The refugees are usually religious, ethnic, or political minorities, NOT criminals. Many of them are also journalists and bloggers who called the Islamist regime out for their crimes against the people of Iran. An ounce of dissent in Iran is all the reason the Iranian government needs as proof to hang you.”