Educated asylum seekers search for a better life in Turkey

Protests and a chaotic environment following the June 2009 presidential election in Iran influenced Moghimi's life as well as those of many others, making it impossible for him to do his job. The photos he took secretly in Iran have appeared in such publications as Time, Newsweek and Le Figaro.

His photos were used by agencies like the AP and SIPA. Moghimi's life changed when a senior manager of the Fars News Agency, where he used to work, visited the agency's Tehran office and told those in the office that the news agency's administration was aware that two in the office were sending photographs abroad. Following this, Moghimi's close friend and colleague, Mashod Lavasani was sacked. He was later arrested and sentenced to a prison term of eight years.

“On that day, I understood that it was no longer possible for me to live there and still remain in my profession. I took all the money I had saved and went directly to the airport. I called my mother. I told her I was going abroad and would be returning soon,” Moghimi says.

After spending this past winter in Turkey, Moghimi is now planning to go to Norway as his application for asylum there has been accepted.

A former Communist, Ali Nazimi, 55, who had to leave Iran along with his wife and two daughters and has settled in the western Turkish province of Afyonkarahisar, is not as lucky as Moghimi.

Nazimi, who spent 18 months in jail 27 years ago due to his communist views, had been expelled from the university he worked at in Iran. He later wrote a book on herbal medicine. When he failed to get his book published, he left Iran to search for a better life in Turkey.

He is living in Afyonkarahisar until a country grants him refugee status. He says he has run out of money and is trying to survive thanks to social aid because he does not have a work permit.

Though there is technically no legal obstacle keeping them from seeking employment in Turkey, most refugees and asylum seekers are working illegally because of cumbersome bureaucratic procedures preventing them from legal employment.

According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 4,440 registered refugees in Turkey

Metin Çorabatır, spokesman for the UNCHR in Ankara, said most of the asylum seekers were from Iraq, followed by Iranians. Among Iranians, those with a university diploma are in the majority.

Thirty-seven-year-old Negin A. is a sociologist who came to Turkey after leaving her husband and children in Iran. She complains that there was state pressure in Iran, while there is neighborhood pressure in Turkey.

She says everyone thinks an asylum seeker is a person who lives in a small room with dozens of people and who does not bathe for days.

“We used to have good living conditions in Iran. We had money. Although our appearance is fine, we are no different from other asylum seekers now with respect to our living conditions. We all ran out of money,” she said.

A 37-year-old engineer, Feteme G., lives in an Aegean province with her husband and two relatives. She and her family live on aid provided by the local governor's office. Feteme says she is very pleased with the treatment of her landlords, as they are very kind. “My parents are in Iran, but I have a new mother here,” she says.

Presently, asylum seekers who cross the Turkish border and for whom an application process is initiated and those holding refugee status are placed in 32 settlements across the country including Niğde, Nevşehir, Konya, Kütahya, Çorum and Çankırı.