For the Sake of Surviving and Not Dying

“The numbers of Iranian asylum seekers is a reflection of the devastation of this generation. They suffer a collective homelessness and displacement. This is a generation—a crowd—that has fought and risked their lives to achieve their primary and minimal human rights and now has had to leave the country to escape the danger of death and to pursue its battles from elsewhere."

Shabnam Azar: No explanation for the conditions of seeking asylum is clearer than the explanation provided by an asylum seeker. Conversations with those asylum seekers who have been threatened in Iran for their political and civic activities and who have had to illegally leave Iran do not have an expiry date. There is always something new in their stories. Each one of these asylum seekers has a different character and conditions. Each one of them seems to have their own perspective of their days of seeking asylum. Moreover, the views and opinions of this crowd reflect the demands and needs of a generation that has tried hard to achieve the ultimate ideal of a nation and that has gone as far as sacrificing lives for this resistance.

“Life for a generation that has come about after the revolution—a generation that by default pays for the revolutionary ideals of previous generations, a generation that has endured many conflicting challenges—has proved to be filled with battles. As such, in the midst of these tensions and challenges embedded in their daily life, this generation is forced to make its own decisions.” This is the opinion of an Iranian asylum seeker. This social activist who after the clashes of the presidential elections was threatened in Iran prefers to remain anonymous while responding to questions about his conditions as an asylum seeker. He is worried that the United Nations (UN) might reject his request for asylum and force him to return to Iran in which case having publicly and openly spoken about his conditions will add to the weight of his “crimes” in Iran. I ask him about how he reached Turkey.

“I had to leave Iran, temporarily released from prison on bail and so my family wanted to protect my life and wanted me escape Iran. So, I did some research on the logistics of illegal departures in Iran and finally found a trustworthy individual. This person told us that the price for human smuggling to Turkey would be around 1-2 million Tomans ($1,000-$2,000). The exact price, this person explained, would depend on which city in Turkey was going to be our choice of arrival. Eventually I paid around $1,000 to go to Vaan which is the first city in Turkey that accepts asylum seekers.

We are approaching the anniversary of the June 12,2009 presidential election in Iran. This time last year, when many were excited and worried in the midst of the post-elections unrest, did you ever imagine you might become  an asylum seeker and be in the situation that you are now in? Did you ever think that the post-elections event might change your fate and transport you to Turkey as an asylum seeker?

“The election did not result in what people had expected. Our votes were stolen. Only to be followed by escalating violence that went as far as rape and execution. None of us thought that we would have to leave Iran. What you see is the chaotic condition of our generation. Many of us asylum seekers in Turkey are between the ages of twenty and thirty years old. We are a generation that was seeking and demanding its basic human rights and naturally nobody in Iran would respond to these demands. Instead, this generation was confronted with a dictatorial government that would gravely oppress them, throw them in jail and while detained and imprisoned they would get raped. Despite its strengths this generation, along with other generations, does not have the ability to quickly defeat this powerful enemy that has taken control all of the resources and military power of the country. Those individuals from this generation that are seeking asylum are those who, one way or another, are trying to rescue themselves from the violence and death that await them back home.”

It appears that many thousands of Iranians are seeking asylum in Turkey. Half of this number have taken refuge in Turkey in the past year and their displacement is the result of the strict judicial orders issued against them inside Iran. Now how should this large crowd of displaced asylum seekers who are stuck in Turkey without work permission survive in Turkey for a long time? This is while only hope of returning home remains.

“The numbers of Iranian asylum seekers is a reflection of the devastation of this generation. They suffer a collective homelessness and displacement. This is a generation—a crowd—that has fought and risked their lives to achieve their primary and minimal human  rights and now has had to leave the country to escape the danger of death and to pursue its battles from elsewhere. I say that we fight for our minimal rights because the generation of asylum seekers that you see here in Turkey is meeting this fate for having supported an official candidate in the presidential election or an official political group. We are here for having used Facebook, or for having written and reported in our personal blogs, or for having participated in peaceful demonstrations. These are all crimes according to the literature of the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran. These are the accusations were forced to admit. And now, we have to go to this and that embassy or to the UN and try to prove our case and we have to live in risky conditions.

Currently without sufficient knowledge of English we have had to leave our country with one of the most worthless currencies in the world in our pockets. We have to survive here without any job or income with the hope of eventually reaching our destination countries with only a vague idea of the future ahead. Nevertheless, we are hopeful and are confident that this optimism will ultimately rescue us. Inside Iran or abroad, we are a generation that has fought for improving its conditions for years and today we are not waiting for anything or anybody.”

Are you thinking of pursuing your civic activities after having reached a European country or the United States? Given the burdens of displacement and asylum how much do you think you could devote to the continuation of your activism in an effective way?

“As a person who, like many others, has had to leave Iran in the aftermath of the post-presidential election unrests in 2009, I have constantly been faced with two questions: one is how much of my life I was able to bring with me and the other is what I would do with myself now. On the one hand emotional pressures and on the other external challenges such as the procedure of asylum, the language barrier and financial difficulties put on an asylum seeker in a particularly arduous situation. The shock that we all experienced in the aftermath of the June 2009 presidential elections created opportunities for my generation to make serious and firm decisions in order to rescue itself from the pressures and conflicts of this era. This shock resulted in us showing our presence in public places and to find our personalities through this collective event. The consequences of our decision to stand up for our rights and the violent oppressions imposed on us by the regime, which was now frightened, strengthened the meaning of our actions. Many of us were killed, many more were imprisoned and some are now getting executed. Countless, too, have had to escape the country, like me. We have escaped with the hope of refining a peaceful existence that allows us to pursue our movement. We have no other choice but to endure these hardships. The generation before us, too, had to undergo similar struggles.”

Even though speaking about the future is difficult, let me ask you how you perceive the future. Do you think you will ever have the chance to return to Iran? In general do you think the conditions of Iran would one day be so that it could be welcoming to the oppositions and dissidents who reside abroad?

“It is important that many of Iran’s opposition activists are outside Iran and that the opposition will one day have the power to cause change inside Iran. The fact that we are now outside Iran should not matter. Whether inside Iran or abroad, we purse one goal: accept, respect, and not deny each others’ varying opinions. Eventually the people who live inside Iran should make the ultimate decision about what they want and need. They are the ones who should decide who should govern Iran. The atmosphere of the country should open up so that all opposition groups that have worked during these years can have a presence. I am hopeful that the opposition of Iran will soon become more respectful and accepting of each other.”