January 22, 2021
An Iranian boy who says he was sexually abused and bullied as a child would face mental and physical harm if he was forced to return to Iran and carry out military service, an appeals court in New Zealand has ruled.
The 15-year-old, who came to New Zealand when he was 12, has been granted refugee status. His mother, an opponent of the Islamic Republic, was recognized as a refugee last year.
The mother and son told the immigration and protection tribunal the boy and his parents never practiced Islam and he was unfamiliar with the Qoran other than what he could remember about it from school.
The tribunal was told he was punished by teachers, particularly for failures in religious instruction, and had been sexually abused when he was four.
“[He] has no belief in Islam and objects to the ideas of the Islamic regime,” the tribunal reported. “He believes that the Iranian government is a terrorist one. The appellant does not wish to undertake military service. He would be forced to pray five times a day. He would be shown how to use a gun and he would be given no choice as to how he was to treat other Iranians. He respects other people’s opinions and does not wish to do this.
“He would be told to stand in front of protesters and, if he refused, he might be killed. Soldiers must do whatever they are ordered to do and he does not want to take anyone’s life for some terrorist’s sake or for any other reason. The military’s aim is to train an individual for a life full of violence whereas he wishes to help others, live freely and build a better world.”
The court was told his father is still in hiding in Iran after being detained, interrogated and tortured by the authorities.
The tribunal ruled that the risk of psychological harm at school being exacerbated by his absence from Iran and his time in New Zealand—and the possibility of further mental and physical harm over a two-year period of compulsory military service—constituted serious harm and justified granting him refugee status.