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)
