![\"Nima](\"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Nima-and-ashkan.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNima told Australian authorities when he arrived at Christmas Island in 2013 that he was gay and was fleeing persecution in Iran on the basis of his sexuality; yet the government still sent him to Nauru, where being gay is a crime, \u201cagainst the order of nature\u201d, that carries a penalty of up to 14 years jail, with hard labour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom line is that Nauru is not safe. Nima and Ashkan remain in danger. They should never have been sent to Nauru. Now they have been found to be refugees they must be given the protection and security that they need. Nima and Ashkan must be immediately brought to Australia,\u201d said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.<\/p>\n
Nima and Ashkan faced harassment and abuse, in and out, of the detention centre. But in July last year they were severely assaulted in the community. Since then, the couple have been house-bound, fearful of leaving their donga.<\/p>\n
They are escorted from their donga, once a week, to do their shopping.<\/p>\n
\u201cNima and Ashkan\u2019s situation highlights the plight of the other gay refugees on Nauru and on Manus Island. In both PNG and Nauru, gay asylum seekers and refugees face persecution because being gay is against the law\u201d, said Rintoul.<\/p>\n
\u201cAwareness of their situation will bring even more attention of the fundamental problems with offshore processing and will add to the growing concerns for the safety of the 267 people from Manus and Nauru who are in Australia facing the possibility of being returned offshore.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor all the asylum seekers and refugees to find safety and protection, we have to close the camps.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information contact Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713
\nMardi Gras \u201cNo Pride in Detention: float organisers: Ed McMahon 0403 590 725; Amy Thomas 0450 767 539<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 200-strong \u201cNo Pride in Detention\u201d float and contingent in Sydney\u2019s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will highlight the plight of Nima and Ashkan, (not their real names, photo attached) two gay refugees on Nauru. A banner (design below) saying \u201cNima and Ashkan: \u2018resettled\u2019 in Nauru; bashed, abused, in hiding..\u201d will be carried on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311091,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12],"class_list":{"0":"post-4750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-press-releases","7":"tag-nauru"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/311091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refugeeaction.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}