US excludes Iranian Christians in Turkey from resettlement programme
For US authorities, Iranian Christians are no longer eligible under a resettlement plan introduced last year. For advocacy groups, this is a controversial and "traumatic” decision since the Islamic Republic remains a Country of Particular Concern in terms of religious freedom.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – Washington has dealt a heavy blow to Iranian Christians languishing in a Turkish "limbo”, waiting for resettlement to a third country in Europe, Canada, or preferably the United States, after fleeing prison and persecution by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
US authorities have ruled that they are no longer eligible for resettlement under the refugee sponsorship programme they launched last year.
The decision comes even though the US State Department has designated Iran as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for “having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom”.
The US State Department has regularly applied the CPC designation to Iran for its ongoing violations of religious freedom (FoRB), including against Christians, as recent cases of imprisonment and violations show.
Last year, Iranian Christian refugees, most of whom arrived in Turkey risking their lives along the way, were given new hope by the US resettlement programme.
One response to the complaints of advocacy groups and people involved in refugee resettlement can be found in Article18’s report last June titled “The Plight of Iranian Christians Claiming International Protection in Türkiye”.
The study includes several critical parts that call for new resettlement opportunities and sponsorship programmes. Yet the US government chose to remove Turkey from its list of countries from which refugees can be resettled, dealing a blow to the many hundreds of refugees currently stranded in that country.
According to a well-established practice, Christians fleeing abuse and repression, or simply looking for a place to live their faith freely, apply for international protection and seek initial shelter in Turkey, registering as asylum seekers.
Once applications have been processed and applicants recognised as refugees, the latter can expect to receive support as part of a plan to resettle them to a third country.
However, not all applications are accepted, and even if successful, resettlement takes years. Meanwhile, most survive in precarious conditions, without work or income, risking deportation if Turkey terminates their residence permits.
“Some of the Iranian Christian refugees in Turkey interviewed by Article18 have gone so far as to say that the news of their exclusion from the US sponsorship scheme was a more traumatic low even than their time of imprisonment in Iran,” said Article18’s director, Mansour Borji.
The Islamic Republic is among 12 countries in the world (a small fraction of the total) to get the CPC designation last week, along with Myanmar, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Mansour Borji goes on to say: “So while we welcome the re-designation of Iran, rightly, as a Country of Particular Concern, because of its FoRB violations, we urge the US government, as recommended in our recently published report, to expedite the resettlement of these refugees, who are at risk of deportation and some of whom face prison sentences in Iran on account of their religious activities.”
Five other countries – Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam – were placed on a “Special Watch List” for “engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom”.
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22/01/2007
