Iranian Resistance calls on Australian government to suspend the expulsion of Iranian refugees to Iran under mullahs’ dictatorship
More than 500 human rights and refugees rights activists, representatives of Australia’s teachers’ federations, and Iranians residing in Sydney held a demonstration in front of Villawood detention centre southwest of the city, condemning the maltreatment and expulsion of Iranian asylum seekers to Iran under the mullahs’ rule. Protestors chanted, "Protect refugees, don’t detain them", as they took part in a rally from the Villawood rail station to the refugee camp.
The demonstration came a day after six Iranian asylum seekers in Villawood refugee camp attempted to commit suicide. Doctors managed to treat four of them, but the other two, one of whom was an Iranian woman, are reportedly in critical condition.
Reports have surfaced that a separate Iranian asylum seeker, who was transferred aboard a plane to Iran against his will, used a knife to commit suicide, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Brisbane airport, from where the asylum seeker was taken to a Brisbane military hospital.
The Iranian Resistance calls on the Australian government and in particular the country’s Immigration Minister to adhere to international regulations and specifically the right against forced expulsion in regards to Iranian asylum seekers, and reiterates that deals with the religious dictatorship, which has been condemned by 51 United Nations’ resolutions for severe violations of human rights in Iran, are not to anyone’s benefit.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
11 April 2005
