Human Rights
It could have been me
Published 08 November 2007
A political activist who fled from Iran 12 years ago was refused asylum after poor representation in court. Now he doesn't even qualify for medical treatment
Afshin is 36 years old and he arrived in the UK from Iran 12 years ago, fleeing further persecution. He had a long history of opposition to the Iranian regime and was imprisoned and beaten many times before leaving the country.
He arrived in Britain by accident: he was stopped by immigration officials in the UK while en route to Canada to join relatives, and had to apply for asylum here. He waited for about five years for a decision on his claim. Eventually it was turned down and his appeal rejected.
Since then, his life has been in tatters. Once his asylum claim had been refused and his appeal dismissed, he was denied the right to work or receive government support. With no money for food, clothes or shelter, Afshin lived on the streets, sometimes eating from rubbish bins, sleeping rough or in launderettes.
Having converted to Christianity in 2001, he now lives with a religious order in London. Afshin has had many health problems; but he can get nothing except emergency treatment, since asylum-seekers can only access hospital medical care during the period of their claim for asylum. Afshin has attempted suicide twice.
He could apply for what is called "hard case support", which would provide hostel accommodation and vouchers for food. But this is available only on the condition that he signs an agreement to return home "voluntarily". And he won't do this, since he fears execution if he returns to Iran.
He constantly worries about his family who are still there.
My own experience as an asylum-seeker could hardly be more different. Like Afshin, I am Iranian, but my family first came to London because of my father's job, as a writer and comedian. This was shortly after the content of one of his newspaper columns had led the Ayatollah to declare my dad an "enemy of the revolution".
As a result, his office in Tehran was surrounded by a mob. After we received death threats, we had to seek asylum here. When a hit squad was sent to London to try to kill my father, we were actually offered police protection. I can't begin to imagine what might have happened if the authorities had not believed our story.
Afshin is still upset about the way his own case was handled. Although he was represented throughout the asylum process by one law firm, his case was handled by many different lawyers. He was unhappy with his legal advice and representation and complained about the poor interpreting at the Home Office.
Years later, when he spoke fluent English, he discovered that he had been described as belonging to a quite different political organisation - one to which he is very opposed - from the political group in which he actually participated. If it wasn't so serious, it could almost be funny.
People like Afshin are dismissed as statistics, a backlog of failed asylum-seekers that has to be dealt with. But they are still human.
The government's policy on refused asylum-seekers does not work and is forcing thousands into abject poverty. It is a failure on both a practical level and a humanitarian level. Forcing people into complete destitution as an attempt to drive them out of the country is inhumane and forces them underground.
I was just a child when my family claimed asylum here and I remember my father laughing off the death threats and the mysterious phone calls. We felt safe in England. Since then, I've been able to follow in my father's footsteps and become a productive member of society (if you can say that about a stand-up comedian).
Refused asylum-seekers, even those who have suffered torture, are being forced to rely on charity or drop-in shelters to survive. They are being reduced to extreme poverty, forced to sleep on the streets and to go without vital medicines.
The system is beyond a joke. Afshin certainly isn't laughing.
Shappi Khorsandi is an Anglo-Iranian comic, nominated for best breakthrough act at the 2007 Chortle Awards
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