Great Britain
said Tuesday that it is granting asylum to a gay Iranian
teenager who fears that he could face execution if forced to
return to his homeland. Britain's Border Agency said
it would allow asylum for Mehdi Kazemi, who traveled
in 2005 to London to study English and, while there,
learned that his lover in Iran had been charged with sodomy
and hanged.
Britain said
Tuesday that it is granting asylum to a gay Iranian teenager
who fears that he could face execution if forced to return
to his homeland.
Britain's Border
Agency said it would allow asylum for Mehdi Kazemi, who
traveled in 2005 to London to study English and, while
there, learned that his lover in Iran had been charged
with sodomy and hanged.
Kazemi, 19, then
sought asylum in Britain, but it was rejected. He then
went to the Netherlands, where its highest court rejected
his claim in March, ruling that Britain was
responsible for the case under European Union law
because it was there that Kazemi first applied for asylum.
Britain's home
secretary, Jacqui Smith, then decided to reconsider the
case, and there were appeals in the House of Lords that he
be allowed to remain due to fears that his life
could be at risk in Iran.
Some human rights
groups claim gay people are executed in Iran because of
their sexuality.
The case has
drawn attention in both countries to the plight of
homosexuals in Iran, and the differences in the way various
EU countries deal with asylum seekers. (AP)
Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter.
Page 1 of 1