Stop the deportation of Pegah Emambakhsh

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HO ref. B1191057

Dear Home Secretary,

We the undersigned petition the Home Secretary to reconsider Pegah Emambakhshs case and grant her permission to stay in the UK. If returned to Iran she faces certain imprisonment and possibly stoning to death. Her crime in Iran is her sexual orientation she was in a relationship with another woman.

Pegah Emambakhsh is an Iranian national who sought asylum in the UK in 2005. Her claim failed despite appeals and she was arrested in Sheffield on Monday 13th August and taken to Yarlswood detention centre. She is likely to be deported back to Iran in the near future.

Ms Emambakhsh escaped from Iran, claiming asylum after her partner was arrested, tortured and it is feared has been sentenced to death by stoning. Her father has also been arrested, tortured and interrogated about Pegahs whereabouts, he has since been released.

According to Iranian Human Rights Campaigners over 4000 lesbians and gay men have been executed since the Ayatollahs came to power in 1979.

Other European countries (including Germany and Holland) have a moratorium on deporting gay people back to Iran. We urge you to take action on behalf of Ms Emambakhsh and stop her deportation back to a country where there is no doubt she will be persecuted, prosecuted and possibly stoned to death.

11328 Signatures

  • lesley Boulton
    • Comments
    • the Uk government must come into line with other EU countries that have a moratorium on deporting gay people back to Iran - one of the most homophobic countries on the planet where persecution of LGBT people is enshrined in law.
  • Haben Habteslasie
  • Bea Marshall
  • Ben Fuller
  • Andy Marshall
  • Jeffrey P. Woloson
  • Fereshteh Forough
  • Maggie Fearn
  • Arsham Parsi
    • Comments
    • Stop the deportation of Pegah Emambakhsh
  • Abigail Goodman (Sheffield)
  • Colin Beveridge
  • Sarah McAnulty
    • Comments
    • Deporting people in the full knowledge that they will be returned to inhumane treatment or worse is unforgiveable and must stop.
  • robin marshall
  • Joanne Harkness
  • paul snell
  • Andrew Jeffrey
  • Dougald Hine
  • Andy Gibson
  • PETER TATCHELL
  • Keith Magnum
  • Lindsay Berry
  • Tim Bridge
  • Chris Chang-Yen Phillips
    • Comments
    • As a Canadian with some contact with the Iranian community, I deeply implore you to reconsider Pegah's deportation. Please act out of compassion.
  • Matt Hundert
  • margaret Sketchley
  • David Boswell
  • polly trenow
  • Ben Wallis
  • Guy Rimmer
  • Neill Mackay
  • Tim Guy
  • Robert Stanfield
    • Comments
    • Why is it so hard for the UK to deport terrorist sympathisers and convicted criminals to countires where they supposedly might face torture but so easy to deport gay people to Iran? What on earth is our government doing facilitating such a situation? Once again it is shamed by its combination of utter ineffectualness when it comes to criminals and indifference when it comes to foreigners persecuted for their sexuality. I urge the government and courts to get their act together and stop this woman being deported.
  • Alexi Dimond
  • Tim Jenkinson
  • Jessie Brown
  • Eleanore Frey
  • Caroline Frey
  • Rebecca Helmers
    • Comments
    • Even though cases are known in which sexual orientation lead to death (in differen ways) in Iran, the UKs government does not only consider a deportation back there but have even taken serious steps. Where shall people who are "different" (eg. sexual orientation) live in harmony and without being scared to death if not in countries which claim to help, being democratic, having hundrets of asylum and refugee-laws? I am from Germany and I have heardof the case from a friend who is activ in politics. I am aware of the fact that these kind of problems exist in Germany aswell-but this is a case where it is about Life or Death. Thank you!
  • Tom Richards
  • Edwin Omondi
  • Peter C. Falconer
  • Peter Todd
  • raymond davey
  • Ian Martin
  • Kim
  • Alexandra Lazar
  • Lucy Fitton
    • Comments
    • Ignoring the fate which awaits this woman (who is innocent by the standards of the UK and in all countries with a sense of social justice who are against discrimination) will reflect very poorly on the UK's treatment of refugees and human rights policies. A country cannot claim to value all human lives and deport an innocent woman to a certain brutal death. We have to trust that those in power will show the compassion which is so needed by people discriminated against by the laws of their countries.
  • Catriona Coleman
  • Rachel Pullan
  • Joe Sheard