Iranian journalist, ToI blogger facing deportation 5 years after Israel welcomed her
Neda Amin has year to leave, after gaining refuge for fear of danger to her life; Shin Bet says she was in touch with Iranian intelligence, which she was cleared of; lawyer appeals
Neda Amin, an Iranian-born journalist, former reporter for The Times of Israel’s Persian website, and a Times of Israel blogger, who was given safe haven in Israel in 2017, is facing deportation on the orders of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.
Amin told Channel 12 news on Monday that she was “shocked” at the way she is being treated, and that she has nowhere to go. Her lawyer, Tomer Warsha, has appealed Shaked’s decision to the Appeals Court in Jerusalem, as a breach of international legislation regarding refugees.
Amin has been ordered to leave the country within a year following a recommendation by the Shin Bet, which alleged that she was in contact with Iranian intelligence officials. Warsha described this allegation as “a fig leaf” and an “excuse” to compel Amin to leave. He noted that Amin had been questioned over the allegation in the past: “She was not arrested, no action was taken against her, and she did not pose any danger.”
A committee that investigated Amin’s request for refugee status in Israel unanimously recommended that she be given that status. A Justice Ministry recommendation to the committee said she had been “hounded” in Iran and her life had been in danger as a consequence of her public criticism of the Iranian authorities, and described her as a “credible” applicant.
Warshaw told The Times of Israel that Minister Shaked had failed to follow the necessary legal procedures in dealing with the case, “and we believe that the court will recognize the error that has been made and grant Amin refugee status.”
Amin left Iran in 2014 for Turkey, where she worked as a journalist, including reporting for the Times of Israel’s Persian website. In the summer of 2017, Amin contacted ToI to say that her life was in danger: Her writing for an Israeli website, along with her other writing elsewhere, had led to her being questioned repeatedly by Turkish police, she recounted, and she had now been told that she faced being kicked out of the country. She said she feared for her life amid concerns that the Turkish authorities would send her back to Iran.
Alerted to her plight, Israeli authorities expedited the necessary checks and procedures, she was granted a visa to enter Israel by then-interior minister Aryeh Deri, and Israeli consulate officials in Turkey helped pave the way for her entry.
In 2019, Times of Israel editor David Horovitz — who met Amin at the airport when she landed in Israel — appealed for her to be granted permanent status in Israel allowing her to work, build a new life and attain citizenship. Neda has told The Times of Israel that she has longed to begin the process of formally converting to Judaism, but has been stonewalled.
Amin was recognized as a refugee by the UN while living in Turkey, but she has been forced to extend her Israeli “temporary visitor” permit every three months since her arrival, and has battled authorities in an attempt to gain a permanent refugee footing.
On Monday, it was revealed that Interior Minister Shaked ordered Amin, who has a young Israel-born daughter, to leave Israel within a year. Amin said her daughter holds Israeli citizenship, but she is concerned it would be stripped from her.
In a statement to the TV network, the Shin Bet said that Amin was investigated during her time in Israel for contact with Iranian intelligence officials, and that she continued to be in touch with them “despite a clear warning from security officials on this matter.”
Amin told Channel 12 news on Monday that she conversed with one such individual only on personal issues and kept up the connection because of her work as a journalist, and she passed along any information she had to the Shin Bet.
The Shin Bet confirmed in 2018 that there was no evidence of illegal activity on her part.
“They broke my heart,” Amin was quoted by Channel 12 as saying on Monday. “When I got to Israel they treated me like a princess or a queen with a red carpet.”
In comments to ToI, Amin noted that she has lived freely in Israel for almost five years, and has been told by the minister that she can live here for another year, and asked, “How can that be if I am a danger to Israel’s security?”
Warsha, a prominent immigration attorney who is representing Amin, said he has appealed the decision in court, and that any justification ostensibly provided by the Shin Bet for her deportation was “a fig leaf” being used by Shaked.
Said Warsha: “I don’t recall a case such as this where the minister makes a decision that contradicts the recommendation of professionals in the ministry, and in opposition to a team of experts that studied and researched the case and made a determination.”
In further comments to the Times of Israel, Warshaw said: “After the Interior Ministry’s refugees unit recommended that Neda be recognized as a refugee, and the Refugees Committee also unanimously recommended recognizing Neda as a refugee, the case went up to the interior minister for her final decision on the basis of the recommendations. The problem, it appears, was that no professional authority guided the minister as regards the requirements for determining the case. Refugee laws state explicitly that a person eligible for refugee status can be denied only in extreme circumstances, such as an instance of crimes against humanity or war crimes.”
According to these requirements, Warsha went on, “the interior minister’s decision is clearly unreasonable, since Neda has never been suspected of such offenses, nor arrested, nor charged with anything, and even the minister has permitted her to remain in Israel for a further year. Obviously, were Neda to constitute a public danger, she would be distanced from the public. The fact is that the Refugees Committee also saw no reason [to raise any such concerns]. In the light of this, we have appealed to the court against the decision, and we believe that the court will recognize the error that has been made and grant Neda Amin refugee status.”
The Times of Israel Community.