Dozens of Baha'i citizens were deprived of university education in 2018
Dozens of Baha'i citizens have been denied the opportunity to file a case and register at university after passing the national university entrance exam.
The HRANA news website, which publishes human rights news in Iran, reported on Saturday, September 14, that at least 34 Baha'i citizens, after passing the entrance exam, were faced with a defect option in their file when registering on the Sanjesh website.
In recent years, this message has been sent to Baha'i citizens applying to attend university, and after these citizens visit the accountability unit of the Sanjesh Organization, they are faced with a ban on registration due to their Baha'i status.
HRANA, publishing images of the Sanjesh Organization's website announcing the file defect message for Baha'is, reported: "Forozan Noordel, Parsa Sheikhzavareh, Hoda Hedayati, Arian Baghaei Amrei, Vafa Nobakht, Adib Rahmani, Parviz Rahmani, Kiana Rastak, Negar Eqani, Hooman Zarei Kadavi, and Arsham Hashemi are among the Baha'i citizens who have received this message."
According to this report, the number of Baha'i citizens participating in the 2018 national entrance exam who were denied education due to a message on the Examination Organization's website that their file was incomplete, and whose identities have been verified so far, has reached 34.
In July of this year, it was also reported that Sogol Zabihi, a second-year undergraduate graphic arts student at Karaj University of Art, was unable to receive an admission card for the end-of-semester exam and was expelled from the university because he was a Baha'i.
Dozens of Baha'i citizens have been denied access to university education despite passing the national exam, even though Islamic Republic officials had previously denied in international forums that this group of citizens were being banned from education.
This denial was met with a sharp reaction from minority rights activists, who presented evidence of Baha'is being denied education.
Last year, the Islamic Republic's judiciary sentenced three young Baha'i men to prison for being denied university enrollment and for trying to have their ban lifted.
In recent years, the summoning and arrest of Baha'is and their deprivation of education and work have repeatedly made headlines. International human rights organizations and the United States Department of State have condemned the Islamic Republic government's treatment of Baha'is and the violation of their civil rights.
Source: Voice of America
