an opponent of the Tehran regime threatened with deportation to … Iran
An opponent of the Mullahs’ regime took refuge in France. Placed in a detention center near Toulouse, she risks being deported to Iran. The administrative court must rule this Thursday, January 19, 2023.
Since last September, the young woman took part in the demonstrations against the regime of the Mullahs. An arrest prompted her to flee to France. Before joining her companion in Great Britain, the opponent stays in Savoie. And there, what should have been a simple transit turned into a forced return to Iran.
The Savoy prefecture applies the law, without taking into account the background and profile of the Iranian opponent. The “classic” procedure is followed: obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) and administrative detention.
For reasons of “place”, the prefecture of Savoy transfers the Iranian refugee to the administrative detention center (CRA) of Cornebarrieu, in Haute-Garonne. It is a first step before a one-way ticket to Iran.
For the head of the Cimade de la Haute-Garonne, Pierre Grenier, nothing can justify such a measure.
Whatever the reason, such a deportation measure is not necessary.
Pierre Grenier – Cimade of the Haute-Garonne
Iranian opponent’s lawyer acknowledges that her client has not filed an asylum application. But Mathilde Bachelet insists that France was only a stage before crossing the Channel.
She only wants to join her companion in England. She will apply for asylum once there.
Mathilde BacheletLawyer
This Wednesday, January 18, theThe judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) asked for the release of the young Iranian. But the decisive step will take place this Thursday, January 19, at 10 a.m., before the Toulouse administrative court.
This is where the appeal for annulment of the OQTF decided by the prefecture of Savoy. The young Iranian’s lawyer says she is confident. Indeed, on January 10, the Toulouse judge already censured a prefectural decision also targeting an Iranian woman.
The two cases are not comparable because the situations are different. But it is not not the first time that Toulouse administrative justice has had to rule on the fate of Iranian opponents. Opponents who had to leave their country fearing for their safety.
In November 2022, the prefect of Aude issues an order to force Leila Afkhami Seresht to leave the national territory. The administrative court of Toulouse not only canceled this decision. He ordered the prefect to issue a temporary residence permit.
The court reasoned its judgment in particular by “a lack of real and serious examination of the personal situationby Leila Afkhami Seresht.