Dilawer

My name is Dilawer, I’m 29 and I’m from Iran.

I was targeted not only because of my ethnicity – my people have historically called for independence - but also because I’m an environmental activist. Because of these two things, I was detained and tortured.

I came to the UK to escape a regime that makes life hell for people like me. But first, I had to make my claim at the asylum interview.

I was under lots of stress. I couldn’t sleep the night before.

I was even prepared to talk about what happened in Iran… To talk about the torture and the things that happened in prison there.

I have this ear injury from being tortured, and because of that, I normally speak loudly. During the interview, the officer kept on stopping me and telling me, “Please speak quieter!”

I didn’t tell the officer that I was speaking loudly because of my hearing because I didn’t feel like I could. I was so desperate to get the interview over and done with that I just said I was fine.

The interpreter didn’t speak the same dialect as me. There were lots of times that we didn’t understand each other. But again, I didn’t want to complain. I just wanted to get it over and done with.

At the end of the interview, I was pleading with them: “I have more things to say.” That was after 4 hours of questioning, but they didn’t want to listen.

I don’t know why I got refused. The Home Office didn’t believe me.

They can’t know anything about what’s happening in Iran if they think it’s okay for me to go back. I got rejected and I still don’t understand why.

After my interview, I was really upset. It was the way they questioned me.

When I was refused, they took my accommodation. I was homeless for about a year. I was suicidal I was under so much stress.

The whole time the Home Office has been so nasty. I’m so angry, the past few years has really emotionally affected me. I still have therapy at Freedom from Torture and I’m really grateful for those services.