This is the full text of the poster of the Iranian refugees in Greece translated in English:
NOT BACK TO IRAN-NOT BACK TO OUR HANGMEN
We are political refugees from Iran in Greece. Many of us have passed through jails and torture because we defended democracy and we resisted the inhuman dictatorship of the islamic régime of Iran.
ASYLUM FOR THE IRANIAN POLITICAL REFUGEES IN GREECE
In the 1st of September we began a peacuful protest in Propylaia (ATHENS, GREECE) so as to be granted political asylum, just like it is granted to the Iranian political prisoners in all the European countries. But in Greece, the governements don’t grant us the asylum, but a card to last only for six months, indicating only that we have filed an application for political asylum. These applications meet no official answer. We want to stay in Greece. But if we were told in written form « no » , we could go to a European embassy in Athens and be granted the political asylum from another country.
Instead, they don’t give an answer, « yes » or « no », but only a temporary renewal of the card for six months, and six months on etc. Thus, we are trapped here even for years, with children that were born here and know only of greek as a language, but we are living with the nightmare of being deported depending on the diplomatic relations between the Greek government and the government of Iran.
After 45 days of protesting in Propylaia, we sadly noted a barrier of indiferrence from the part of the government, but also a barrier of silence as far as the mass media are concerned.
The masses in Greece know nothing of us. Despite this, people passing by in front of us in Propylaia have already supported us with 10,000 signatures. Finally, so as for the Media to understand the urgency and the size of our problem, and for the greek people to be informed we decided to begin a hunger strike. At the same time, we made the same thing the Iranian freedom fighters do in prison to show to their torturers that they are never going to speak. We sewd our lips with needle and thread. We did not do so to indicate that we are not going to speak, but instead to show that we were talking but we were not heard. Most of all, we did it to say openly that we do not want to go back to Iran at any cost, because that will be equivalent to our death.
That’s why we ask for the Greek people’s support so as to be given political asylum.
COMMITEE OF THE IRANIAN POLITICAL REFUGEES IN GREECE
