|
'My sister Soma set herself on
fire rather than wear the hijab'
It is a little known fact that there are more
Iranian asylum seekers in Sheffield than any other
nationality. Richard Heath talks to one refugee
about his experiences and finds out why so many
choose to leave their homeland.
In a school in western Iran, a 14-year-old Kurdish
girl died after setting herself on fire in protest
over her right not to wear the hijab headdress.
The story nearly brings Iranian Kurd Kawa Kohnaposhe
to tears. He escaped Kurdistan in 2000 after twice
being arrested and tortured for supporting the
Democratic Party of Kurdistan.
He fled to Turkey, obtained false documents and
eventually arrived in Sheffield via London and
Coventry. Meanwhile, the girl began to question
certain details of Islam and refused to wear the
hijab. She was detained after school and after
months of torment she decided to end her life.
Kawa never had the chance to say goodbye to the
14-year-old girl, his sister, Soma.
"I only had one sister. She was only 14 when she
died. I never said goodbye to her and that has left
me with a pain in my heart that won't go away. It
will be with me forever," said Kawa, speaking at his
Burngreave flat.
Kawa, aged 26, had little choice but to leave behind
the oppression of Kurdistan after his every move
became tracked by the Iranian intelligence service.
After leaving high school in the town of Mariwan,
the then 19-year-old began teaching at a local
school.
It was there where he began secretly teaching the
pupils about the Democratic Party of Kurdistan. This
act caught the attention of the Iranian government.
No Kurdish resident can have a Kurdish name. They
cannot study their own language, celebrate their own
festivals or even display their own flag. Those who
do are captured and tortured.
Kawa was 20 when he was arrested, taken to the local
jail and subjected to two weeks of mental and
physical abuse.
He said: "They put me under pressure to tell them
about my political work but I didn't say anything.
They had no evidence against me. "So they began
playing tapes of women and children screaming
because they were being beaten. Some were being
abused sexually.
"Then they beat me. They tied my legs together and
hung me from the ceiling and hit me with guns and
sticks."
Kawa spent two weeks inside the jail, living in a
cell so small he couldn't lie down.
He still suffers pain from the beatings and during
an English course at Sheffield College had to leave
class early so he could exercise his neck and
shoulder. Council figures show that Iranians have
taken over Somalis as the largest ethnic group
claiming asylum in Sheffield. There are 149 Iranian
asylum seekers in 109 households in Sheffield. There
are 129 Somalis in 60 households.
Kawa said: "Life is difficult in Kurdistan. There is
always someone watching you and you are constantly
denied celebrating your culture. "Most people don't
even know what the Kurdish flag looks like because
no-one is allowed to have one." Two months after he
was released from jail, and having been constantly
monitored by the Iranian government, Kawa was
rearrested, locked up and again tortured.
"They did the same thing again but I wouldn't say
anything to them. "Those 21 days were horrible for
me and for every single prisoner. They didn't treat
us like humans. "I got into politics for a reason –
to change things. So, why would I tell them
anything? If I did, they would have killed me."
Kawa left Kurdistan and claimed asylum in Sheffield
after relatives warned him that people captured for
a third time are either detained for life or killed.
One man who was seen with a Kurdish flag was
arrested and allegedly splashed with boiling water
before having his fingers chopped off.
He was then beaten, shot, cut open and his body was
dumped outside his family's home as a warning to
other Kurds.
"They would cut your body, they would take body
parts from you. I had to leave because I thought
they would kill me. If I went back there now I would
be killed, it is as simple as that."
Kawa was granted leave to remain in the UK about
four years after arriving here.
This spring he spent eight weeks shadowing teachers
at St Patrick's School in Firth Park. He told the
children stories about ife in Kurdistan and helped
improve his language and teaching skills.
Now Kawa plans to take a teacher training course in
London. He will temporarily have to move out of his
Sheffield flat, and take with him the Kurdish flag,
which is hanging in his living room.
www.sheffieldtoday.net
Top |
® 