Iranians find tenuous refuge in Syria
Political refugees worry about their fate as ties strengthen between Damascus and Tehran.
from the May 8, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Arab Sunnis in Shiite Iran
Forbidden from speaking Arabic, the Ahwazi population of Khuzestan Province is one of the most economically and socially deprived in Iran, according to Amnesty International.
Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, highlighted the living conditions in Khuzestan following his visit to Iran in July 2005.
"There are thousands of people living with open sewers, no sanitation, no regular access to water, electricity, and gas connections," he said. "In deprived neighborhoods, you can actually see the towers of the oil refineries and the flares and all that money, which is a lot, and it's going out of the province."
"People feel like the central government hasn't tended to them like it should," says Karim Sadjadpour, a Washington-based analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "There's a sense among some Ahwazis that the reason they're neglected is not because of geography, but perhaps because they're Arab and Sunni, rather than Shiite and Persian."
Unrest in Iran's oil-rich region
Tensions exploded in April 2005 when militants launched attacks against oil installations.
Several different Ahwazi opposition groups claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"The Iranian security apparatus has clamped down in the region and detained hundreds of people," Hadi Ghaemi, a New York-based Middle East researcher with Human Rights Watch said. "They have handed down execution sentences for dozens of people allegedly connected to bombings. Those trials have been very unfair."
Iran says its security measures are a necessary to prevent deadly attacks and thwart efforts by separatists to Balkanize the country.
Back in Syria, Abu Sana moves from house to house hoping to avoid being nabbed by authorities and sent to Iran. "The West cares about animal rights, but we are humans with no rights," he says. "Can't they protect us?"
RSS feed
