The Pope meets with the Christian Iranian refugee illegally detained in Röszké for 18 months

2023-04-28 13:05:59

Pope Francis on Saturday, he will meet many other refugees in Budapest, including the Iranian man who was illegally detained for 553 days in the Röszke transit zone before the European Union classified the procedure as illegal – let him know the Hungarian Helsinki Committee on Twitter. The man and his young son were represented in the case by a human rights organization branded as a “Soros organization” by government communications.

Abouzar Soltani although he lived a financially secure life in Iran, he was persecuted because of his worldview, and he longed for a freer life together with his young son. As a result, they were forced to wait first in Bulgaria for three months and then in Serbia for two and a half years, and

they were detained in the Röszke transit zone for eighteen months.

The Hungarian state planned to deport them back to Serbia, but Serbia did not allow them back, so it was also suggested that they would be sent back to Iran, from where they had fled due to the persecution of Christians.

Soltani and his son arrived legally in Hungary years ago, but the authorities refused to investigate their asylum application, saying that they arrived through Serbia, which was considered safe.

It is also noteworthy that Soltani was presented at the Verzió human rights documentary film festival in 2019 Hal film, which he made with his mobile phone about the story of himself and his little son. The man was invited to the festival, but he could not go to the show because he was not allowed out of the transit zone.

A few months later, the incident happened again when it Nocturnal wanderers was shown in Budapest. Soltani and his little son also appeared in it, and he himself was the creator of the film as a cinematographer. At the time, the Budapest International Documentary Film Festival wanted to invite the asylum seeker and his young son to the premiere of the film and the subsequent panel discussion, but the National Directorate General of Aliens Police refused the request of the festival citing government regulations.

The BBC in its coverage of the papal visit reminded methat the Hungarian government operates a separate office in support of persecuted Christians worldwide. At the same time, even recently, the main conflict between Pope Francis and the Hungarian government has been the fact that the Pope sympathizes with refugees and asylum seekers in the spirit of basic Christian teachings, while the Hungarian government is hostile to refugees from outside Europe.