Fariborz Pooya

full interview

Hello, can you introduce yourself? Hello, I am Fariborz Pooya. It has been more than 40 years that I have been living in England. Ehh… hmm… I came here from Iran in 1979 for studies. I have been living in London since then.

Alright. May I ask why you consider yourself a refugee? Yes. When I came abroad and enrolled in the university to study, when there was a revolution in Iran. Naturally, this revolution had attracted the attention of the world. I was also a student outside Iran. When the Islamic Republic came, it started killing its opponents, the lack of people’s freedom and the lack of women’s rights. At the same time, the students who were outside Iran protested. Unfortunately, we were faced with a government that did not recognize any boundaries and did not accept any international standards. It destroys all opponents and intellectuals. Everyone who was involved in the Iranian revolution wanted a free and prosperous Iran. And I was part of that student movement in England and opposed the Islamic Republic. When I first came to England, my plan was to finish my studies in 3-4 years and return to Iran. The events that happened made me unable to return and they did not renew my passport and put pressure on my family in Iran because of the activities I was doing here. I remember that after the Islamic Republic came to power, political prisoners were executed, and I remember that Seyed Sultanpour was executed. We had been improvising in the same Terrain Square for a week. We were on a hunger strike with a series of Iranian students. Our protest was brought to the attention of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and we were attacked. This created problems for me and I had to declare myself as a refugee in England in order to stay here. This was not an easy decision because I did not decide to stay in England and I really wanted to be able to return to Iran, but a situation had arisen that made it impossible for us to return. At that time, it was not the case that refugees were considered a negative population. At that time, under the laws of the United Nations, they accepted us as refugees very easily with the documents we had. When I was explaining my case to the officer, he was really sympathetic. They accepted my asylum in about 1 week to 10 days and I could live and work like a British citizen with the available facilities. We did not have these problems that Iranian refugees have today. After that, many other friends applied for asylum in England. And a new wave of refugees started in England, and many political activists and opponents of the Islamic Republic who left the initial massacre came and became refugees here. I had launched a campaign to the Iranian Refugee Organization, which later became a big commission and its activities increased. It has branches in about 30-40 countries now. We were one of the first groups to set up that organization in the UK and our job was to support the new wave of refugees that was created. There were those who went from Iran to Turkey to reach here or went to India to reach here. That was the time when I personally started working on the refugee issue. And the arrivals caused a wave of anti-refugee violence. In the last 35-40 years, asylum has become more difficult for many. At the same time, refugee organizations were created not only for Iranian refugees but for all refugees. And political activists from other countries also came and I cooperated with them. We launched a campaign to change the British asylum laws. I remember that for the first time many of the refugees’ rights were cut.  Before, refugees could live under UN laws like all other people and had equal rights. When Marga Tacif’s government came, they cut off these facilities. Within 24 hours, all the rights and facilities of the refugee families were cut off. We launched a lot of campaigns with the help of the lawyers of that day and tried to oppose these laws. One thing that happened was that under the English law 1148, no one can be homeless, especially if they have children. We helped all the families to go to the municipalities and get facilities under that law. We forced the municipalities to provide facilities for the refugees. That was a very important event, and I was part of that campaign, until today I still help those who have problems with language, work, location, etc. If these are not taken care of, a lot of damage will be done to them, especially to the youth. Now there are British organizations that work for the rights of refugees.

How did you feel when you faced these problems in the past? I felt how cruel this work of the Islamic Republic is. I had two different experiences. One is that I was a refugee who was recognized and I was able to change this situation easily. Living in this sense was a different world. And it totally showed me that um…ummm…mostly when I thought about it is that for me, having lived in this country, I could totally see the connection between creating asylum laws and restricting. The lives of the citizens of this society. One of the things we did was to show that you are not the only one who restricts the rights of foreigners, but this right-wing neo-liberal policy that restricts the rights of refugees is actually a springboard to restrict the rights of all citizens of society in the future. This is step by step work by these. When the people of the society get used to trampling the rights of some people, it starts to trample the rights of other people in the society.  In my opinion, little attention is paid to this issue. In my opinion, this should be shown to all people.  In my opinion, there is a direct relationship between cutting the rights of refugees and the rights of citizens. The result I got from it was to be able to show that supporting refugees has a great impact on the development of the society itself. One important thing is that wherever we were able to create solidarity, we succeeded. There were situations where even the refugees killed themselves and I remember that several Iranians were deported. There were those who were deported to other countries and persecuted, and several of them were executed when they returned to Iran. It became very important to me that no one can stop this. We cannot say that I am a very good refugee and a good citizen, do not work with me. There should be solidarity among the people of the society. It should be said to the people that if they cut off their asylum rights, tomorrow they will cut off their rights as citizens of the same society. By limiting the rights of the refugees, they are testing how much control they can have over the people. This lesson was very important for me during this time. In my opinion, dealing with this requires a collective response. A person from Iran came here and I helped him. I took his children to social services. He told me that you are doing this for me, what can I do to thank you? I said no, don’t do anything for me. The next person who came and was in your current position, take their hand. My suggestion is to continue this chain and let them know that a new wave of refugees will come and they should be taken by the hand. It does not matter if the refugee is Iranian or non-Iranian. They should help and there should be solidarity to change this situation.

You talked about solidarity. When this solidarity creates power in you, what do you feel and what do you call that emotional feeling? Creating solidarity is an important part of the deep expression of human existence because humans must do all things together. Humans are social animals. It is in doing common work that man can express himself. Solidarity is the highest expression of humanity. Umm… Umm… When something really bad happens to a society, let’s say there’s an earthquake. Umm…houses get destroyed. This is where the nation comes together to help. This experience of being in a community connects people. This issue is not only about asylum. I worked for a time in a trade union in England. I experienced that if we strike or work, it is only that common experience of working that shows us as human beings.  It is the shared experience of working that creates unity. Now I remember the friends we were together in a strike 35 years ago. We had been on strike for three months in one of the South London municipalities because 10 employees were not fired, and we succeeded. It is very strange because we succeeded. We still remember the crowd that was there and the main core of the protest, and we have a deep emotional relationship between us. Society is formed in such a way that people are connected and do things. I can see this in different experiences.

What is the name of this emotion? I think its name is the joy of being human. It is an expression of humanity. In my opinion, it is the deepest feeling of humanity. I don’t know how to define this. But I feel that I am who I am and that I will become a community. I have one thing and that is the experience of working together. Sometimes many things are not successful. For example, some who are in prison are tortured. There are those who lose their homes. This is the common experience that unites everyone. Currently, there are Iranians who are protesting against the death sentence. The work they do together brings them closer to each other. Today’s society can define you as a constructive atom.  And this system makes you go to work, shop and move on with your life. It does not create humanity; it creates a feeling of depression. We feel alienated from ourselves. That’s when a person comes to himself and feels that he can do something. When you feel happy, then you are connected. Now you and I are sitting here and we are talking, this exchange of our experiences creates a moment where we can understand each other more and better. We do this for the sake of shared experience.

I wanted to know before you became a refugee and you were about to become a refugee and you faced problems, what was your dream then? If you say that I had a dream, what would that sentence be? I think I faced this problem when I was 17 or 18 years old.  When I was young, my dream was to um… ummm… in the field I was studying and I loved that job. I had to know my environment completely.  I wanted to study my field well. I can become a suitable person in the field I was studying.  It was not a very big dream.  My dream was to share what I know with my friends and have a comfortable life. It was a different world at that time. I was young in the 1960s and 1970s, it was a time when you could have a better life because societies were maturing and economic growth was false.  To have a better life was a very attainable thing. Now that many people in the world only dream to survive. It was a time when everything was possible. My experience is different from the experience of today’s generation.  It is very difficult for many people to achieve their dreams in this era. You should ask this more to today’s youth than you ask me that I am yesterday’s youth.

I would like to know what challenges you are currently facing? What problems are you dealing with now? Personally?

Yes. Most of my efforts are to be able to sustain myself economically and culturally. I am sure that I will give my child a home and he will achieve his dreams.  Ummm… Well, economic conditions have become more difficult for everyone. This is one of the constant challenges that everyone struggles with.  Umm… culturally, we are witnessing a regression. I think it is because the religion had not developed that much at the time we were there. Religion was relatively a cultural thing in our life. It was easier to read books then. Now we are facing a big religious giant that has a lot of industrial facilities at its disposal. It can change the lives of millions of people. We can all see the impact of this in our daily lives. With the experiences I had, I know that having a different world is not very difficult. Now see that homelessness in London is very high. When you pass a path, you see a homeless world. It was like this before Corona. But during the corona era, homeless people were given homes with a single signature. No one talks about this much.  In order to curb the coronavirus, the government gave all the municipalities a budget to temporarily house all the homeless. I used to work in one of the municipalities of the city of London. Within a week and a half to 2 weeks, they gave houses to all the homeless in the city.  There were also a few who did not accept the house and had psychological problems.  Again, after the end of the coronavirus, they cut the budget. Many social problems can be eliminated. I have my own personal experience and this can be solved. I have seen that with one turn of the pen, many people’s lives can be improved and problems can be eliminated. There are many financial possibilities. It is ten times the need of the society, but there is no proper system and this hurts me.

I want to know that despite this problem that you just talked about and the cauldron of problems, how do you overcome these problems? How to eliminate this?

You are facing a series of problems, how do you deal with them and what is your strength against these problems? My personal experience is that if the people of a society do not have a common experience, it cannot solve the problem. An individual cannot solve the problem. This can be seen everywhere.  Every political work should be done with solidarity. I see what they are doing so I can go and shake hands with them. We should try to have a precise understanding of the causes of these problems. Let’s study the matter together. Let’s know why this problem arises and work together to solve the problem. Everywhere there are people who resist and form organizations. It is very easy to find them. It is not necessary for an individual to do the work. There is experience in all fields and these experiences can be used. In all fields there are alternatives that we can use.  Don’t do anything alone. We should do more organized work and finding experienced people is not difficult, we can find them. When we do these things, I feel how much more powerful we can be. I think that one can do something in every field of life. We just have to find a way. There are different ways and we should use these experiences. Let’s assume that different organizations are doing good and appropriate things for refugees. For example, they work from rescuing refugees from the sea to British ports to help refugees. There are young children who work together beautifully. We can become more connected with these young people. Some of them gather refugees and teach them music and enroll their children in school. There are a wide range of people who work to help refugees. I do not feel that I am weak in this regard. There are young people who can help refugees by working together.

I want to know what your dream is now. If you say a sentence, what will it be? I dream that all people know the importance of working together. The stronger this is, the easier my life and that of others will be.

Thank you. If there is anything you want to add, please say so. You asked the questions well. Thank you.

Thank you for your valuable time. You are welcome.

Bye. Bye.