Lanterna Rally

Author: Allen K. Jones

Publisher:

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13:

This report describes the situation of 1 to 2 million Iranian refugees. It first summarizes the historical events which caused them to flee or remain overseas after 1979. The report discusses how the different refugee groups arose. Some left Iran because of religious persecution, and these include Baha'is, Jews, Armenians and Zoroastrians. Other refugees are from ethnic minority groups which oppose the current regime because they wish for greater autonomy. These include Iranian Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijans, Turkomans, and Baluch. Except for the Kurds, most of these groups accepted a government peace agreement in 1981, but some of their members remain in exile. There are also many Iranian groups which have ideological differences with the ruling regime, and whose members have fled because of persecution or disillusionment. The report then describes the routes taken by Iranian refugees, and the countries where they have sought refuge: usually Pakistan or Turkey at first. It also analyses the attitudes and policies towards Iranian refugees of West Germany, Canada, and the USA. The author concludes that Iranian refugees represent a problem which is poorly understood by the rest of the world. They receive little coherent understanding or sympathy, partly because they come from a very broad spectrum of Iranian society, and partly because they are so widely scattered in the world. Relatively few of them receive any international assistance, and many are supported by established Iranian communities in their countries of refuge. Some need protection, since the Iranian Government may wish to stop them publicizing the maltreatment they experienced in Iran. The author recommends that: Iranian refugees must be offered protection in first-asylum countries; the USA should revise its low quota of admissions for 1985, and establish processing posts in Pakistan and Turkey; the USA should abandon its policy of refusing release on parole to asylum seekers now held in detention; and, above all, that those Iranians whose applications for asylum have been denied by any country should not be deported to Iran, where many may face danger.