Iranian refugees detained illegally in Larnaca Prison, Cyprus, 2011 (clip 4)

Interviewer: Hi Nima. Can you tell us about yourself?
Nima: I have been in this country for 9 years. They have put me in this jail for 7 months without giving me an answer about an interview. My wife and kids are somewhere out there. The conditions here are awful. We don't get enough light or sunshine. Really horrible conditions. I don't even want to talk about the food.

Interviewer: Has any human rights organization or the UN contacted you so far? To offer help of any kind?
Nima: No one has contacted me or has offered to help me. I have received no answers from human rights.

Interviewer: What about you Mojtaba? What is your story?
Mojtaba: I have been here [in Cyprus] about 8 years and a few months They arrested me and then they told me I had to leave the country. They went to my house and took all of my documents. These were my official documents against the Islamic Republic. I have asked for my papers but they won't give me back my documents. I have been in detention for 11 months. I don't see enough sunshine and the food is all beans and lentils, it is not good. And we can't get an answer from anyone!

Interviewer: Hi Ruhollah. What about you? Have you not broken your hunger strike yet? Can you talk?
Ruhollah: No, I can't.

Interviewer: How many days has it been since you started [your hunger strike]?
Ruhollah: It has been 9 days.

Interviewer: 9 days! So can you talk? Or should I talk for you?
Ruhollah: No, you talk for me.

Interviewer: Our friend Ruhollah here has been here for 9 months. He was arrested after his first month here [in Cyprus] and he has been in Larnaca jail for 8 months now. He made his request for asylum here in jail. During these 8 months, he has received no answer to his asylum request. He was taken for an interview once, which was just a mock interview. It was not official, it was full of lies, and he received no papers.

Interviewer: My name is Mohammad. I am a refugee in Cyprus. I have been here for 6 years. All this time I have not received a letter regarding an interview. One day I went to fill out a change of address form and there I was arrested. And now I have been here for 5 months. After 5 months they forced me into an interview where my translator is someone who works directly with the Iranian consulate in Cyprus. During the interview he gave his opinion about my answers - if he thought I was telling the truth or not. And this was their idea of a formal interview. Then they give you a rejection answer, and then they will tell you to leave or get deported. And we don't know what to do. And every organization we have contacted like Human Rights Watch or the United Nations, they don't answer. As if when it comes to Cyprus they all have agreed to just get rid of us from here. Right now my asylum request case is still open; that means I should not be in detention while my case is still open. And when I tell them, "You should release me," they say "No, we can't because it is the law."

Translation from Farsi to English: Soheila Nikpour, Iranian Refugee Amnesty Network

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• larnaca
• refugees
• iran
• cyprus
• human rights
• unhcr

[jozef1361]

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