Fwd: Please help Pegah

[Abi Kingston]

Hi. I received this email from some friends who work with asylum seekers in Sheffield. Would be grateful if you could join me in writing a letter to support this Iranian woman in the desperate situation she is in.

Thank you very much

love

Abi

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------


 

Dear Friends and Family and Acquaintances.

 

Stop the deportation of Pegah Emembakhsh!

HO ref. B1191057

 

I am writing to ask for your help to save the life of an Iranian friend of ours who faces deportation and likely death if we cannot stop her being removed from the UK.

As you may or may not know, our main voluntary work is in helping asylum seekers who are destitute, resulting in them having nowhere to live, and no access to money or means of survival.  

Why should we particularly want ot help this person when there are hundreds facing the same plight ?

We have had her staying with us for many weeks and grown to have a deep affection for her. This was largely because she was so suicidal when she arrived that we gave far more attention to her needs than to anyone we have housed before. She is also an honest, gentle, kind person who everyone seems to be  particularly fond of.

We knew nothing of her reason for seeking asylum until she was imprisoned last Monday.  When we looked at her papers we knew why she never said.  She was terrified that we would reject her.  We have spent every available moment since then trying to prevent her being deported to Iran, see attached info.  If we now fail to keep her in this country, we have effectively sealed her sentence of imprisonment and possible death by stoning, by making her situation known to the whole world.  

Whatever your beliefs about asylum seekers or people of 'different' sexual orientation, I hope you will respond to our plea and write to her M.P.

 

The Right Honorable Richard Caborn M.P.

House of Commons

London  SW1 OAA

 

or Barkers Pool House

Burgess St.

Sheffield

S1 2HF

 

and plead for him to recommend that she be granted leave to remain here.

It doesn't matter whether our government  believes  that she has ever had a lesbian relationship or not - the fact is, that the Iranian authorities do.  In fact she was refused refugee status because she couldn't produce concrete evidence of her story - the judge didn't believe her!   I ask you, would anyone leave home and loved ones to come to a completely strange country where she has suffered greatly because of her fear of return to a death which she believes she would receive?

 

Many thanks for reading this.  It's not what you say so much as the number of letters he receives, so you can keep it brief if you wish.

 

Best wishes

Margaret and Robert