Gay Iranian Teen Faces Deportation, Death

A 19 year old Iranian student studying abroad in London received a disturbing phone call from his parents last year. His former lover, under persecution for sodomy in Iran, named him as a partner, leading to a warrant for his arrest. Mehdi Kazemi's parents also informed him that they were disowning him and did not disapprove of the fate that awaits him in Iran.

Personally, I find the most outrageous thing about this ugly situation to bethe position of the UK Government. Iran's position on this and other abuses of human rights is nothing new. A country that hosts Holocaust denial forums and claims that homosexuality doesn't exist within their borders (as though it is magically extinguishable) is going to have to do a lot to actually shock me at this point. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a caricature of himself, evoking Bond villains every time he spews his rhetoric through his interpreters.

However, the United Kingdom, widely considered a first world liberated society, and asylum to many persecuted refugees has inexplicably decided to consider sending this young man (barely old enough to be described as such) to the gallows of Iran.

Kazemi has sunk his case into a sea of red tape by attempting to apply for asylum in Holland after being refused asylum by the UK Home Office. Applicants are forbidden from applying for asylum in more than one European country.

I was initially frustrated and confused about the entire situation- is this not a textbook case of an individual facing violation of human rights and execution due to his being part of a persecuted segment of society?

Then I realized the implications of possible precedents that would follow if Kazemi is granted asylum. Gay Iranian men and women will all have a similar case, since they are all equally at risk. While one could argue that only those actually marked by the government should receive asylum, it is highly likely that Iranian homosexuals will take the risk of coming out in order to find rescue from the hell they live in. Furthermore, non homosexuals could claim to be gay, which will automatically put them on the government's lynch list, thereby making them equally eligible. Such a situation seems eerily and depressingly plausible.

It is a sad situation, and a wake up call to the fact that barbarism and savageness still run rampant in our world- and that the liberated, progressive first world may not have an effective solution to handle the situation, and perhaps will not before many innocent people are tortured and killed.