From: The Solidarity Council of Iranian Refugees in Turkey
To: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
News published in the mass media and by the security agencies of different countries, especially in Turkey in relation to the Iranian government’s acts of terrorism and kidnapping abroad has cast a wave of fear, panic and insecurity among Iranian asylum seekers and refugees in Turkey.
Those who have left the country for various reasons and particularly social and political activists are going through increasingly difficult and risky period of their lives. They left Iran as the Islamic Republic not only fails to provide a safe and secure living condition for them, instead deploy some of the most terrifying acts of aggression against them. They have now taken refuge In Turkey with the hope that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees provide them with protection and save their lives.
A few days ago, the Turkish Security Service identified and arrested a terrorist gang that kidnapped Iranian political and social activists in Turkey. Unfortunately, just a few days prior to this incident, Arsalan Rezaei, who was also registered as an asylum seeker with the UNHCR and was the director of the Telegram and Instagram channels called “Kharafatkadeh”, was brutally hunt down and murdered for his political activities against the regime.
The experience and information obtained from the terrorist and kidnapping acts of the Iranian regime in the past and the unique similarities between the recent assassinations and kidnappings in Turkey and Iraq show that the regime is highly active in pursuing, assassinating and kidnapping its political opponents abroad.
Unfortunately, despite the terrifying shock that the events of the last few days have brought to the Iranian asylum seekers and refugees’ community in Turkey, the office of the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees has been indifferent. This office has not yet contacted us or other asylum seekers in this regard. We have no information about the UNHCR position on this matter and any possible actions the is desperately required to protect of secure the lives of Iranian refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey! This is a matter of great concern to us.
The Solidarity Council of Iranian Refugees and Refugees in Turkey hereby expresses its concern about this situation to the international community, refugee organisations, Human Rights and particularly the UNHCR office in Turkey that has a direct responsibility in this matter. We expect the UNHCR Office in Turkey to address this issue urgently.
We demand the immediate resumption of processing thousands of Iranian asylum seeking cases and also transferring those who have already been recognised as a refugee to a third safe country.
CC:
– Amnesty International
– Human Rights Watch-
– European Court of Human Rights
The Solidarity Council of Iranian Refugees in Turkey
۱۸ December 2020
E-post: iran.refugees.solidarity@gmail.com
Tel: (+90)507 901 5964