Dutch Court Denies Iranian Teen's Asylum Plea

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid51310.asp
December 27, 2007

A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a gay 19-year-old Iranian must return to the United Kingdom, where he faces deportation back to Iran, according to a report in the UK Gay News.
“I was refused the right to appeal of asylum in the Netherlands because of the Dublin Treaty,” Medhi told the UK Gay News by telephone Wednesday afternoon. “Obviously, I am very disappointed at judge’s decision." Medhi's lawyer is making a final appeal to the Netherlands High Court.
The ruling was based on the Dublin Treaty, a European Union law that prevents asylum seekers from applying in multiple E.U. states.
Mehdi says he's worried that the early decision from the court -- the decision wasn't expected until the new year -- meant he'd be deported to the U.K. over the holidays.
“My main fear at the moment is that the U.K. Home Office would disregard appeals and send me back to Iran before any offices reopened after the holiday,” he said.
While studying in England, Medhi learned that Parham, his former boyfriend in Iran, had been arrested by authorities. Before being executed, Parham had revealed Medhi’s name to interrogators. Medhi fled to the Netherlands from England last spring when a tribunal dismissed his appeal against deportation. According to Medhi's uncle, the appeal for asylum failed because the tribunal judge found that dates on Iranian paperwork did not match the young man's story. However, the uncle told UK Gay News the Iranian calendar is different from that observed in the West.