Warning about the fate of Christian citizens and the deportation of Iranian refugees from the United States
Two Iranian asylum seekers, one of whom is a Christian, were deported from the United States without going through legal procedures, which has raised concerns from human rights organizations.
Ali Harischi, an immigration attorney in the United States, announced that the US government has returned two Iranian asylum seekers to Iran without following legal procedures. One of these individuals has been identified as a Christian citizen who is now at risk of persecution and prosecution in Iran.
In an interview with ABC, Hrischi said that his two clients entered the United States through the southern border last year to apply for asylum, but recently disappeared from the immigration detention system and were then returned to Iran without prior notice.
He added that one of the individuals is a Christian citizen who entered the United States earlier this year with his pregnant wife. According to the immigration lawyer, the individual's asylum application was denied after his arrest and he was ordered deported. His wife, who recently gave birth to their child, is still in the United States and is not in custody.
The New York Times reported on October 28 that the Trump administration had repatriated about 100 Iranian immigrants to Iran on a charter flight. Hossein Noushabadi, the director general of parliamentary and consular affairs at the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also confirmed that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement intends to repatriate about 400 Iranian citizens, 120 of whom will arrive in Iran within one to two days.
"We tried to appeal many times, but suddenly, without any notice, we found out that he had disappeared from the immigration system, and then we heard that a number of Iranians had been deported," Harischi said. He added that his client's wife managed to contact him briefly, and the person explained that he had been transported all the way to Iran in handcuffs and shackles.
The US government has not yet officially confirmed the deportation of this group of Iranians. Meanwhile, the Trump administration's strict immigration policies have faced widespread criticism from human rights activists.
Christian citizens in Iran have been the target of organized repression for years, a repression that includes arrests, security pressure, and social deprivation, and has been repeatedly criticized by international institutions.
But the problem is not limited to Iran. Christians have always been persecuted and harassed in many parts of the world, while European countries, despite being signatories to the International Covenant on Human Rights, have in many cases failed to provide them with effective and real protection. This contradiction between human rights obligations and the practical performance of governments has been revealed once again in the case of the deportation of Iranian refugees from the United States.
