Erfurt (dpa/th) - There is support from Thuringia for a suspension of deportations to Iran. "Although the question has not arisen in Thuringia in recent years, simply because no people have been deported back to Iran from Iran, it is still very clear for my group: If people from Iran arrive here, we will take them as a matter of course protect against persecution and violence," said the spokesman for migration policy for the SPD parliamentary group, Thomas Hartung, on Friday in Erfurt.
Because of the violent crackdown on demonstrators, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) called on Thursday for a nationwide stop to deportations to Iran. Lower Saxony had previously suspended deportations to Iran. State Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) announced that he wanted to campaign for a general freeze on deportations at the next conference of interior ministers and to submit a corresponding proposal for a resolution.
The trigger for the demonstrations in Iran was the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The moral police had arrested her because of her alleged "un-Islamic outfit". What happened to Amini after that is unclear. The woman fell into a coma and died in a hospital on September 16. Critics accuse the morality police of using violence; the police deny it. Since the woman's death, thousands have been demonstrating across the country against the government's repressive course and the headscarf requirement.
In view of the situation on the ground, it is important "to express sympathy and solidarity and to keep up the political pressure on Iran," said state spokesman for the Thuringian Greens, Bernhard Stengele. He also spoke out in favor of a nationwide ban on deportations. "The unity is an important sign here."
