UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (UPI) -- The U.N. refugee agency is calling on Syria not to extradite a group of Iranian Arabs to Iran, saying their lives might be threatened.
Eight Iranians of Arab descent, known as Ahwazis, were detained May 11 in Damascus, the Syrian capital. One of those individuals, Said Awda al-Saki, a refugee who had been accepted for resettlement in Norway, has reportedly been returned to Iran, where human rights workers say he could face the death penalty because of his activities in defense of Ahwazis.
Of the seven remaining individuals, six have been recognized officially by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, and one is a former refugee recently naturalized by the Netherlands, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday in Geneva.
The detentions drew a swift rebuke last month from UNHCR, and three of the individuals have since been released. Four remain in detention.
According to the Syrian Foreign Ministry, the extradition of al-Saki was requested by Iranian authorities.
"Extradition does not mean that a refugee or asylum seeker loses his or her international protection status," said Ron Redmond, a spokesman for UNHCR. "We therefore strongly appeal to both Syrian and Iranian authorities to allow the refugee to depart to Norway as scheduled."
Human rights groups have expressed concerns about the deteriorating situation in the Khuzestan region, home to nearly 2 million Ahwazis and the site of much of Iran's oil reserves.
Tension in Khuzestan has mounted since April 2005, when it was alleged the Iranian government intended to disperse the Ahwazi population. Bomb explosions in Ahwaz City in June and October 2005 killed 14 people; explosions at oil installations in September and October have led to mass arrests and the March 2 public execution of two Ahwazis.
