Dissident Iranians take refuge in Turkey

Associated Press

Light snow was falling when the two young men set out on horseback for the border to flee Iran. By the time they were deep in the mountains, it had become a blinding blizzard, the temperature had dropped below freezing, and they were barely alive.
Hesam Misaghi and Sepehr Atefi were joining what has become an exodus of dissidents fleeing Iran's political turmoil. For them that meant a harrowing journey through the country's rugged northwest in the dead of winter, with the help of Kurdish smugglers….
At least 4,200 Iranians have fled their homeland since disputed presidential elections in June, according to a list compiled by activist Aida Saadat, who herself slipped across the border into Turkey in December. These refugees have scattered to the United States, Europe and Gulf nations like the United Arab Emirates.
Most of all, they have come to Turkey - around 1,150 of them, according to the U.N. refugee agency - taking advantage of the porous border and Turkey's policy of not requiring a visa. Most of the new arrivals fled for political reasons, including those who took part in OPPOSITION protests after the vote. They bring the number of Iranians in Turkey to 4,440, as of February - including 'undesirables' in the eyes of the clerical regime, such as homosexuals or members of the Bahai religion.
The danger these Iranians face back home is clear. A month after Atefi and Misaghi's January escape, police raided their homes in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Among the charges against them: 'moharebeh,' or 'waging war against God,' a crime punishable by death.
Police arrested their friend and colleague, Navid Khanjani, who was supposed to have fled with them but changed his mind at the last minute. With Khanjani's arrest, eight people in the independent Committee of Human Rights Reporters have been jailed, and three remain in prison and could face execution.
In Turkey, the refugees are safer, but they live in limbo. Almost all brought little money and cannot work because of Turkish restrictions, so they cram into small, coal-heated apartments with minimal furniture.
Political activist Mahdis, 35, who once worked for a dissident cleric in the holy city of Qom, said she fled Iran more than a year ago after having been repeatedly raped in jail. Mahdis spoke on condition her last name not be used to avoid public embarrassment.
When she arrived in Turkey she was again raped, this time by a fellow Iranian refugee. She said police would not allow her to transfer to Kayseri unless she paid $200, which she didn't have.
'I was sobbing, saying 'I swear to God' I don't have the money,' recalled Mahdis. It took her 40 days to come up with the money that she borrowed from fellow refugees.
Another refugee, Mehrdad Eshghi, was the official singer for the state-run Iranian TV and Radio, known as Seda va Sima. Then authorities questioned his loyalty because he worked in the election campaign of President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad's top rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi.
After he refused to perform for Ahamdinejad's campaign, security forces began harassing him. He was detained and threatened with worse consequences.
'I was surprised by the way they treated me,' said Eshghi, 40. 'I was one of them. When I had the mike in my hand doing live programs, it meant they trusted me with their lives,' he said in his apartment in Kayseri.
After security men began staking out his home around the clock, Eshghi went into hiding. He took a bus to Turkey six months ago, and his wife and daughter joined him a couple of months later.
'They could have done something terrible to me. You never know,' Eshghi said of his pursuers. 'The survival of the Islamic Republic is so important to them that they will not give up at any price'.
Eshghi, a singer, calligrapher, painter and composer, mourns his former life in his homeland…
Some refugees claim they have been harassed by Iranian intelligence agents while in Turkey, with threatening phone calls or even physical attacks. Human rights officials say Iranian intelligence agents have infiltrated the refugee community here, leading to widespread suspicion.