BY CLAUDIA QUINNELL

MELBOURNE — On January 31, a small but vocal rally, attended by 50 people, was held outside the department of immigration to oppose the likely deportation of 190 Iranian asylum seekers.

The rally was called following a meeting between federal minister for immigration Philip Ruddock and several Iranian religious leaders at which Ruddock requested that the asylum seekers be forcibly repatriated.

Six months ago, the deportation of Iranian brothers Nesser and Nader Estahbanati from the Curtin detention centre in WA sparked protests across Australia. Nader, forcibly deported a month after his brother, has not been seen or heard from since arriving back in Iran. Both brothers were involved in political activity at university before they fled Iran.

Many Iranian asylum seekers in Australia's detention centres are university students and political opponents of the Iranian government, which is well known for its gross human rights abuses. In the last half of 2002, there were 407 “official” executions. There were hundreds more “unofficial” executions carried out by the Iranian government, mainly of university students opposed to the regime. If forcibly returned to Iran, many asylum seekers may face a similar fate.

The majority of the rally participants were supporters of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran. Victorian Greens refugee spokesperson Pamela Curr addressed the gathering.

From Green Left Weekly, February 5, 2003.
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