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Living in exile and longing for home
Being granted refugee status is by no means the end of a torture survivor's struggle. As people exiled from the homelands by circumstance rather than choice, victims of persecition who were also forced to witness the suffering of those closest to them can feel a constant sense of isolation.
In striving to formulate a new identity in the UK, Abdolah is constantly reminded of what he lost when he escaped the Iranian province of Ahwaz: "I am living in the UK, but in my heart and in my mind I live in my country."
Abdolah, now aged 24, had to leave Ahwaz midway through his university education over three years ago. Growing up, he was always aware of the ethnic Ahwazi Arabs' struggle against social and economic marginalisation.
He watched as families were expelled from their farmland and as the authorities destroyed their homes when they refused to leave. Poverty was commonplace, with those who could afford an education often forced to study in Farsi, not Arabic, a language they did not understand and which then hindered their efforts to find work.
In 2005, Abdolah participated in a series of mass protests known to the Ahwazi Arabs as the 'Ahwazi intifada', sparked by revelations that the Iranian regime was planning a land confiscation programme in which Arabs would be forcibly displaced from Ahwaz to other regions of Iran.
Violent clashes between protestors and the security forces and a series of subsequent bomb blasts led to hundreds being killed, with scores more injured and detained.
Abdolah was one of several to be accused of plotting against the government. He was detained by security forces for four weeks, during which time he was confined to a solitary cell, where he would hear the sounds of other prisoners being tortured; a memory that haunts him still. The only time he saw outside of his four walls was when the guards would drag him to another room to be tortured.
He was released when the authorities admitted there was no evidence with which to prosecute him. Abdolah later discovered that the family home had been raided during his detention and that his uncle had been killed running from security agents.
After Abdolah fled Ahwaz, his family continued to be hounded by the authorities. Since being in the UK, he has also since learned a number of his friends have been detained, tortured and executed.
"Every time I hear about the suffering of the Ahwazi people I feel sad and depressed because I cannot help them. I have tried to kill myself because of the anxiety. I cannot even see my family because they are prevented from leaving Ahwaz and while I can speak with them sometimes, it is dangerous for them to have contact with me."
Abdolah still participates in protests outside the British and Iranian embassies in his ongoing bid to highlight the plight of the Ahwazi people, but he feels frustrated by the wall of silence that means events in his country go relatively unnoticed.
"Every ethnic group in the world wants freedom and justice for their people, freedom from cruelty. I had hoped to work, to serve my people and my country, but there are a lot of obstacles in the way."
لقراءة
المقابلة من موقع الجريدة انقر على الرابط الأدنى
المركز الإعلامي للثورة الأحوازية 21/07/2008
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