Gay Iranian teen loses asylum appeal

Mehdi Kazemi is a gay Iranian teen and he believes he will face persecution if he is made to return to Iran and now the Netherlands has rejected an asylum plea by Mehdi Kazemi.

Originally Mehdi Kazemi, 19, sought asylum in Britain but Britain's home office rejected his request and that is when Kazemi fled to Netherlands. The decision was made on Tuesday by the Council of State which means that Kazemi could face deportation to Britain and he is afraid Britain will send him back to Iran. A spokeswoman for the council said that the council decided that it must comply with the Dublin Regulation and return Kazemi to Britain. An application for asylum submitted in any EU country would be handled by that country alone, according to the Dublin Regulation. Back in October Kazemi appealed for asylum in the Netherlands and it was rejected and he then appealed unsuccessfully to a regional court in December. In order for the Dutch court to consider Kazemi's asylum application Kazemi needed to prove that Britain did not handle his asylum application properly and he could not prove any wrongdoing. Kazemi's uncle said that anyone who signs Kazemi's deportation papers and sends him back to Iran basically signed his death sentence. Peter Tatchell, an activist for gay campaign group OutRage, said that if Britain is prepared to send a young man back to an execution than that is inhumanity on a monumental scale. Britain's home office said that homosexuality is illegal in Iran and they do experience discrimination but they are routinely persecuted purely on the basis of their sexuality.