Gay Iranian Asylum Seeker Faces Deportation From Netherlands

Mehdi Kazemi was waiting in a Dutch center for asylum seekers Friday as the country's highest court mulled his fate -- in what campaigners fear could be a life or death decision for the gay Iranian teen.

Kazemi, 19, says he traveled to London to study English in 2005 and applied for asylum in Britain after learning that his lover in Iran had been executed for sodomy, his lawyer Borg Palm said.

Kazemi's case highlights not only the plight of homosexuals in Iran, but also differences in the way European Union allies deal with asylum seekers.

After Kazemi's application was rejected by British authorities, he fled to Europe and applied for asylum in the Netherlands, where usually strict immigration authorities are more liberal when dealing with Iranian gays because of persecution they face at home.

''When the immigration service hears about you being gay, they will be less strict,'' said Justice Ministry spokeswoman Karen Temmink.

However, because Kazemi had already applied for asylum and been rejected in Britain, the Dutch government is refusing to consider his case and insists he must be sent back to Britain, citing the European Union's 2003 Dublin Regulation, which declares that the member state where asylum seekers first enter the EU is responsible for processing their claims.

Palm has applied to the supreme court for a provisional ruling to let Kazemi stay in the Netherlands until Dutch authorities have considered his asylum request. The court is expected to issue a decision some time next week.

Palm said Kazemi was in such despair about the case he is on suicide watch in a center for rejected asylum seekers in the port city of Rotterdam.

Even if he is granted more time, the Dutch still appear likely to send Kazemi back to Britain.

''We believe the U.K. system to be fair and honest,'' said Temmink.

Britain's Home Office declined comment on the case, saying it does not discuss individual asylum applications, but it seems unlikely authorities would reverse their earlier rejection.

''If you apply for asylum a second time, the general rule is that you have to have something new,'' said Palm. ''He does not have anything new.''

Campaigners in the Netherlands fear that means Kazemi could be sent back to Iran from Britain.

''Now he is here, we cannot allow him to go back to England where he might run the risk of being sent back to his own country, which we consider so dangerous for him,'' said Rene van Soeren of the Dutch gay rights group COC.

However, Britain's Border and Immigration Agency has issued a statement that could give Kazemi hope.

''We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return,'' the agency said.

Matteo Pegoraro, president of Italian-based gay rights group EveryOne, which is lobbying for Kazemi, said he knew of 10 gay people executed in Iran since 2005, based on reports from nongovernment groups and activists.

When asked about the executions last year on a controversial visit to New York's Columbia University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew derisive laughter by saying: ''In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country ... I don't know who's told you that we have this.''

Soeren laments the fact that Kazemi did not apply for asylum first in the Netherlands.

''If he had only applied in Holland his case would be over and he would be granted a residence permit without a hesitation,'' he said. (Mike Corder, AP)