Country: Iran

Group: Baha’i

Date: 04/06/2021

Team: Vianney Mancilla (lead) and Alicia Hernandez

Content Warning: systemic discrimination, ethnicide, religious persecution

Approximate Time Period: 1979-present

There is a significant amount of evidence supporting the displacement of the Baha’i in Iran. The evidence is rated a 3 due to the amount of detailed information and the consistency and reliability of the sources.

Despite constituting the largest religious minority in Iran with a population of 300,000, the Baha’i are classified as “unprotected infidels” and “heretics” by the Islamic regime (International Federation of Human Rights, 2003). The Baha’i have faced religious persecution since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Bahá’í cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, administrative centers, along with private and business properties have been confiscated since (International Federation of Human Rights, 2003; Baha’i Community of Canada, 2021). A 1993 secret official document brought to light by the Special Representative to the UN Commission on Human Rights (International Federation of Human Rights, 2003) set out guidelines to block the development of the Baha’i by denying them higher education, employment, and positions of influence (International Federation of Human Rights, 2003). More recently, in late 2020, two court-issued orders declared ownership of the properties of 27 Baha’i on the basis that Bahá’ís have “a perverse ideology” and therefore have no “legitimacy in their ownership” of any property (Baha’i Community of Canada, 2021). In November of 2020, over a hundred government officials raided the shops and homes of the Baha’i in seven cities, demanding their property deeds (Baha’i Community of Canada, 2021). As a result, many of the Baha’i homes remain unoccupied, as the Baha’i flee violence and persecution or official displacement (Baha’i Community of Canada, 2021). Officials of the United Nations and the European Union declare their solidarity and support to end the religious persecution of the Baha’i (Baha’i World News Service, 2021).

Sources

  1. Baha’i Community of Canada. (2021, January 25) Land confiscation and mass displacement of Bahá’ís in Iran. Retrieved from https://opa.bahai.ca/areas-focus/situation-iran-yemen/ivel/ on April 8, 2020
  2. Baha’i World News Service. (2021, March 05). #ItsTheirLand: Unprecedented reaction makes voice of persecuted Bahá’ís in an Iranian village global: BWNS. Retrieved from https://news.bahai.org/story/1495/  on April 8, 2020
  3. International Federation of Human Rights. (2003). Discrimination against religious minorities in Iran. Retrieved from https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/ir0108a.pdf on April 8, 2020