This document summarizes the experiences of several Iranian refugees who are members of the Bahá'í faith and have sought refuge in Charlotte, North Carolina. It describes how they have faced persecution, imprisonment, job loss, and other hardships in Iran for their religious beliefs. Several individuals share their stories of escaping Iran and establishing new lives in Charlotte with the help of refugee resettlement organizations. However, they still face difficulties and danger for family members who remain in Iran.

1. harassed,
imprisoned
vilified forbidden
expelled on seeking refuge
A small group of
Iranian refugees, once
persecuted for their
account of their
religious faith, have
carved out a place in
Charlotte. But it hasn’t
religion
been easy
By Tamela Rich
Chris Edwards
Bahareh wears a pendant
with a photo of her late
husband, Arash. She is one
of several Bahá’ís who have
sought refuge in Charlotte.
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OCTOBER 2008 n CHARLOTTE

2. bullied
an apostate
Parvez lost his job as Manager
of Corporate Planning for a
subsidiary of the National
Iranian Oil Company in 1980
for being Bahá’í. He was a
She keeps
She keeps the trace of her smile for member of the elected assem-
most of the three hours she speaks
subversive
bly (now illegal) of his state
is one who
the trace of
about her life in Iran, where the police capitol, and was therefore sum-
can throw a person in jail for being seen moned by the Revolutionary
her smile for Court to recant his religion. He
in public with a member of the opposite
forced
escaped through Pakistan in
sex who is not a relative. About life in a
most of the 1982 and arrived in the U.S. in
theocracy that won’t recognize the high-
1983 with his wife and one of
est-achieving math and science student
three hours
his daughters.
if that student is not a Muslim. About
the same government that won’t allow
she speaks
an adherent to the Bahá’í Faith to attend
a state university or work for the govern-
about her
ment. About the courts that won’t force
turns away
an employer to pay her father’s wages
life in Iran,
because he’s Bahá’í. About a woman
who, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution,
where the
needed to marry to protect herself from
being raped.
police can
Bahareh flew into Charlotte from
Turkey this January, a twenty-three-
A
throw a per-
year-old widowed refugee fleeing an
denied
from
fter her nut-brown eyes untenable life in the Islamic Republic of
son in jail for Because he refused to limit his
and cover-model lips, Iran. She’s one of the 13,000 Iranians
photo shoots to same-sex gath-
the next thing you who seek refugee status each year. She
being seen in erings, photographer Behnam
notice about Bahareh is joined fifty other Bahá’ís who have come
Islam
couldn’t get his license to practice
the rectangular photo to Charlotte from Iran with help from the
public with from Iranian authorities. (Bahá’ís
framed in gold that she Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in
have no prohibition on the social
wears as a pendant. It’s about the same the past ten years.
a member mixing of men and women.)
dimensions as a commemorative post- It’s time to meet your new neighbors. Behnam’s wife, Masoumeh
age stamp. Against a nondescript neutral
of the oppo-
(bottom), left a secretarial posi-
background is a head-and-shoulders shot
S
tion with a private company in
of a thin, dark-haired man in a gray, open- ay “immigration” in Charlotte
admittance
site sex who
Iran, and became her husband’s
neck shirt. It could have been taken any and people likely think “illegal photographic assistant when
time in the last forty years. He looks to immigration.” Bring up legal the couple sought refuge in
is not a rela- Turkey. Soon after the couple
be in his twenties or thirties. Somehow, immigration, and talk may turn to the
sold Behnam’s photographic
you can tell he is a foreigner—if he had green card lottery or skilled workers
tive. About a
killed
equipment and made their way
been photographed in America, the pho- here on a visa. But here’s another form
to Charlotte. Just three days after
tographer would have coaxed some tooth of legal immigration: refugees fleeing
woman who, they arrived, they were rescued
out of him. But this young man’s photo persecution in their homelands.
by boat from the Doral apart-
after the
was taken in Iran, where, for adherents No central agency or institution
ments off Monroe Road when
to the Bahá’í Faith, there isn’t much to tracks the number of refugees living in
disturbing
they flooded.
1979 Islamic
grin about. Charlotte, because people are free to live
200
Bahareh, who longs to earn a Ph.D. wherever they choose once they land in
Revolution,
and teach in an Iranian university some the U.S. The 2006 census report shows
day, wears this pendant of her husband, Charlotte’s foreign-born population,
needed to
Arash, who was killed two days after their including refugees and asylum seekers,
2004 wedding. Does she wear it like an at about 14 percent of the 650,000 total.
marry to pro-
amulet to ward off potential suitors? To Each year, between 1,200 and 1,800 refu-
honor his memory? And what kind of life gees settle in Charlotte.
tect herself
prepared this vibrant young woman to Catholic Social Services (CSS) helps
more than
tell you her husband was killed coming more refugees settle in Charlotte than
from being
home from their honeymoon, without any other organization. Since 1975, the
Kim Hummel
shedding a tear or even becoming stoic? group has aided close to 10,000 refugees.
raped.
Her religion, she says, smiling, teaches Cira Ponce, CSS’s refugee resettlement
her to be happy under all circumstances. office director, says Vietnamese refu-
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3. Poran lost her job as a sixth
grade teacher at the time of the
subversive
revolution and arrived here
in 1986 after being smuggled
out with her two daughters,
gees and those from Somalia and the the Charlotte Jewish Federation, which one of whom has cerebral
former Soviet Union have dominated the helped Jews from the former Soviet palsy. Almost intercepted
CSS caseload since 2001. The Hebrew Union start their lives anew here. With at the Pakistani border, the
Immigrant Aid Society, a much smaller her success, HIAS headquarters recog- threesome spent two nights in
sacked
the mountains awaiting safe
group, has brought about 700 refugees to nized Charlotte as a good place to reset-
passage. While living in Iran,
Charlotte in the last dozen years. tle refugees. It established a Charlotte
Poran was warned not to put
Bahá’ís leave the Islamic Republic of branch and made her its director.
the proceeds of her home sale
Iran because of the way the state enforc- Ask Dubin why the Hebrew Immigrant
in the bank because Bahá’í
es apostasy laws. Zoroastrians, Jews, and Aid Society is working with Christians,
bank accounts were often
Christians are protected religious minor- Muslims, Bahá’ís, Zoroastrians, and those
seized by the government. In
ities. But Iranian Muslims are forbidden with no stated religious preference, and
a cruel twist of fate, though,
to adhere to any religion besides Islam. she’ll say that HIAS helps Jews and others
the person who vowed to keep
Iranian apostasy laws target Muslims in need. Today, it’s mostly the others. In
Poran’s money safe never
who convert to Christianity, Muslim the past ten years, 42 percent of HIAS returned it to her.
sects with beliefs outside those endorsed clients come from Southeast Asia and 18
by the government, and Bahá’ís, whose percent from Africa. Of the approximate-
religion emerged in 1844, some 1,200 ly fifty Iranians HIAS has helped settle in
years after Islam. Charlotte, there were one Jew and two
Every nineteen days, on the first day Christians, the rest Bahá’ís.
Neda and her father Farshid
of each Bahá’í month, Bahá’ís around the For most of the last ten years Dubin has
arrived in 2005 with Neda’s
marriage vows
world celebrate what they call Feasts, operated out of her home and car, bring-
mother and brother. Farshid was
where they pray, consult about commu- ing more than 700 persecuted people out denied entrance to a technical
nity affairs, and enjoy fellowship. Bahá’ís of their homelands and into Charlotte. institute at the time of the revolu-
in Iran lost the right to observe Feast She has stories of meeting clients and tion and didn’t want his children
with the revolution of 1979. The world- conducting business in parking lots and to suffer to make their lives in
What do
under no
wide faith has no clergy and is admin- hotel lobbies in a hundred-mile range of Iran without the benefit of edu-
istered instead by elected assemblies, Charlotte, although they usually meet in cation and job availability as he
Bahá’í Believe? had to.
which were disbanded by governmental apartments and the HIAS classroom for
order in 1983. Bahá’ís are not allowed to teaching English as a Second Language
elect leaders, organize schools, or con- (ESL). This year, she and her full-time
According to the official Web site of the Bahá’ís
duct other religious activities. staff of four, plus three part-timers, of the United States (www.bahai.us):
It gets worse. The United States moved into their own office space on
“The Bahá’í Faith is the youngest of the world’s
Commission on International Religious Monroe Road, where they work to place
independent monotheistic religions. Founded
Freedom is a government panel that clients in housing and provide them with
in Iran in 1844, it now has more than 5 mil-
advises the president and Congress. In a jump start for living and working in
lion adherents in 236 countries and territories.
a report from earlier this year, the panel Charlotte. Bahá’ís come from nearly every national, ethnic,
stated, “Since 1979, Iranian authorities According to the Commission on and religious background, making the Bahá’í
ircumstances
have killed more than 200 Bahá’í lead- International Religious Freedom, things Faith the second-most-widespread religion in
the world.
ers, thousands have been arrested and have been more difficult for Bahá’ís since
Raana came here with her hus-
imprisoned, and more than 10,000 have President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came
“Bahá’ís view the world’s major religions as a part band and son in 2005 because
been dismissed from government and to power three years ago. Bahá’ís “have
of a single, progressive process through which they couldn’t keep jobs in Iran.
university jobs.” been harassed, physically attacked, God reveals His will to humanity. Baha’u’llah Diagnosed with metastasized
This spring the Iranian government arrested, and imprisoned…young Bahá’í (1817-1892), the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, is
breast cancer while waiting for
rounded up seven Bahá’í organizers, and schoolchildren in primary and secondary recognized as the most recent in a line of Divine
settlement in Charlotte, her con-
Messengers that stretches back beyond record-
word of their treatment and whereabouts schools increasingly have been attacked,
dition worsened and HIAS esca-
ed time and includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha,
has not been forthcoming. It is for fear of vilified, pressured to convert to Islam, lated her resettlement so that she
Zoroaster, Christ, and Muhammad.
what might happen to their relatives still and, in some cases, expelled on account could get American medical treat-
living in Iran that we choose not to pub- of their religion.” ment. She was accompanied by a
“The central theme of Baha’u’llah’s message is
lish the last names or cities of origin of that humanity is one single race and that the Turkish physician on the trip and
those interviewed for this story. day has come for humanity’s unification into one picked up in an ambulance at the
F
global society. While reaffirming the core ethical
elora arrived in Charlotte last airport. Treatment continues here.
principles common to all religions, Baha’u’llah
year, receiving refugee status
E
also revealed new laws and teachings to lay
llen Dubin started her career with her son, Nima, now fifteen, the foundations of a global civilization. ‘A new
Kim Hummel
in refugee resettlement in the after he was repeatedly harassed in life,’ Baha’u’llah declared, ‘is, in this age, stirring
early 1990s as a volunteer with school. Felora, thirty-seven, says teach- within all the peoples of the Earth.’ ”
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4. ers told Nima’s classmates that Bahá’ís town. Before Felora left the country, a is trying to wind down his business to fund be injured badly,” she recalls. “But when States. The U.S. State Department vets “My father should be retired by now,” she
are unclean and made other slights against neighbor called complaining about his his flight from Iran so that he can join his they washed me, we realized I was fine.” the refugees while they wait in their gate- says, casting her eyes to her lap.
him and his faith. Classmates bullied Nima “subversive” business activities. When family in Charlotte. Because their marriage wasn’t legal, the way cities. After they arrive, the Office of Recently, after a year in Charlotte sub-
with impunity, once nearly breaking his the government sacked the home-based At one time, the Iranian government government denied Bahareh widow’s ben- Homeland Security keeps tabs on them. sisting on an $8-an-hour part-time job at
thumb, another time throwing him into business and found American flag decals, did not permit Bahá’í children to attend efits and the money to bury her groom. the airport, Laleh got a job at an engineer-
a wastewater ditch. Felora, who herself Felora’s husband and her brother, who schools, but now they are targeted for Attorneys for the construction company ing firm. She was a week from losing food-
D
wasn’t permitted to ride the bus to school worked in the business, were detained for education in schools with strong and bullied witnesses to the accident not ubin emphasizes that refugees and stamp eligibility. The day after she report-
as a child, explains with soft-spoken digni- two days. Family members, in town for imposing religious ideology. Higher edu- to testify on behalf of the young Bahá’í asylum seekers are more scrupu- ed to work, her apartment was flooded by
ty that she had no choice but to take flight the brother’s wedding, feared the groom cation is denied to Bahá’ís as a matter couple, threatening that the government lously examined and monitored the August storm. Her firm put her up in a
with Nima, leaving her husband and fam- wouldn’t live to speak his marriage vows. of national policy. A 1991 memorandum would retaliate against them if they did. than any other group that comes to the hotel. After working a few months, Laleh
ily behind. Today Felora works as a seam- When the men were released, the published by the Supreme Revolutionary The family pooled its resources, prepared U.S. The thorough vetting entitles them to hopes to visit her sister, who arrived in
stress while Nima attends a local public authorities told them that under no cir- Cultural Council stated, “They must be the body for burial, and interred him in work for an indefinite time here. That is, if Texas as a refugee in mid-July.
high school and works in a sandwich shop. cumstances could they make American expelled from universities, either in the one of the Bahá’í cemeteries that had not they can find work. Laleh is fortunate. She speaks English
Felora’s husband owns a decal printing flags in the future, no matter the terms of admission process or during the course of been desecrated in the north of the coun- Laleh, a twenty-eight-year-old with very well. Most Farsi-speaking Bahá’ís
and production company in their home- their business contract. Felora’s husband their studies, once it becomes known that try. The government has razed or allowed a master’s degree in civil engineering have difficulty finding even subsistence-
they are Bahá’ís.” the desecration of Bahá’í cemeteries and from BIHE, is one of the lucky few who level jobs in Charlotte before their refugee
Bahareh, like thousands of other holy sites in many cities. eventually found a professional job here, subsidies run out. It generally takes North
Bahá’ís, was denied the opportunity to sit Dubin keeps a map of the world pinned although it took her nearly a year. She Carolina refugees about eight months to
for the entrance examination required for to the wall of her modest office. She often came to the U.S. after it became clear that use up their meager benefits under the
admission to Iranian universities, so she looks at it while answering questions about her degree was meaningless in Iran, where state’s refugee assistance program. Single-
enrolled in the Bahá’í Institute for Higher her work or when she explains that the she interned at two Iranian engineering member households earn $181 a month.
Education (BIHE), founded in 1987. It was only two countries where the UNCHR cer- firms. When she pressed her employers to If there are two: $236. A complex calcu-
there she met her husband, Arash, whose tifies Iranians as refugees are Austria and take her on the payroll, the firms said they lation determines food-stamp benefits,
picture she wears today. Turkey. At the time of the revolution, many could not employ a Bahá’í for fear of being but it’s less than $175 per person monthly.
were smuggled out through Pakistan, but harassed by the government. Resettlement organizations like HIAS and
that route is now closed. Some refugees Depressed and eager to repay her family CSS supplement the state program with
A fter Bahareh and Arash quietly will be assigned to Canada or Australia, for her education costs, Laleh decided that various efforts of their own, but funds are
married at home four years ago, but most will be assigned to the United leaving the country was her only option. in short supply.
they drove to the northern part
of Iran to visit a Bahá’í holy site for their
honeymoon. The government does not
recognize Bahá’í marriage certificates,
and the young couple planned to affirm
their marriage before a government offi-
cial after their return. They never had
that opportunity. Driving along a hilly
construction site, a bulldozer operator’s
carelessness allowed a massive boulder
to smash into the driver’s side of their
thirty-year-old borrowed car. Arash was
crushed instantly, covering the unscathed
Bahareh in his remains. “When they took
me to the hospital they thought I must
How to Help
HIAS continually needs:
• Furniture and household items for the refugees
including beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs, and
other furnishings
• Cash donations, gift cards, and food vouchers
• Large vans to transport refugees to community
events
• Volunteers to: drive refugees to and from job
and health care appointments, help set up new
apartments, teach clients to ride the bus (do
you know how?), pick up furniture donations,
tutor, help with record keeping and light office
duties, coach clients for the citizenship test
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5. U nlike Los Angeles, which has the more support for refugees than the U.S.
largest concentration of Iranians does. She says the extra support allows
in the country, Charlotte doesn’t refugees to acculturate and learn the lan-
have a critical mass of Farsi-speaking guage before attempting self-sufficiency.
neighborhoods or businesses where refu- Dubin explains America subscribes to
gees can earn their keep while learning more of an up-from-the-bootstraps men-
English. HIAS and CSS offer basic ESL tality. “Overall, the N.C. legislature is
courses free to clients, as does the pub- refugee and immigrant friendly but also
lic school system for school-age children. expects them to [find] work as quickly
CPCC offers classes free of charge through as possible and not be a burden on the
a certain proficiency level. But according to state—just as citizens are expected to
Bahareh and others, it’s impossible to learn work,” she says. This encouragement
the language within the span of their initial of early employment is tough on educa-
financial support package. tion-focused refugees like Bahareh, who
Bahá’í refugees have found a toehold aspires to a Ph.D. in sociology. This sum-
in the Charlotte economy by working at mer she took twelve credit hours of class-
the airport in positions like dish washing es at CPCC, an impressive load for a com-
and housekeeping where limited English pressed summer session.
proficiency isn’t a barrier, but it’s a tough Still, life in Charlotte beats the heck out
economy, and hours are in short supply. of life in a repressive theocracy. For the
The seventeen-year-old son of one Bahá’í first time in their lives the Iranian refu-
family dropped out of high school to join gees here are free to observe the every-
his parents and sister at the airport so that, nineteen-days Feasts. The Charlotte
between the four of them on part-time Bahá’í community, which numbers
wages, they could make ends meet. roughly 300, has organized itself into
Bahareh’s youngest brother, seven- quadrants, and most Feasts take place in
teen-year-old Sina, started learning Bahá’í homes in each quadrant, while holy
English while they were in Turkey await- days are commemorated in larger rent-
ing resettlement and then took ESL class- ed venues. Although most are American
es at his Charlotte-Mecklenburg high born, Charlotte Bahá’ís come from sev-
school. He speaks English well enough to eral countries, and the Feasts are flexible
make sandwiches at a local Subway shop in allowing for prayers in all languages.
owned by a Bahá’í couple that immigrat- During community consultation, Bahareh
ed before the revolution. and other bilingual Bahá’ís help those who
Bahareh’s parents and another speak Farsi to participate fully.
brother don’t speak English well, although Laleh, the engineer, still thinks of America
they increasingly understand what’s spo- as the land of opportunity, but knowing
ken. They cannot find work. Combining what her fellow Bahá’í refugees face trying
Bahareh’s thirty hours at the airport with to make a go of it in Charlotte, she’s glad she
Sina’s wages, the two of them can’t support has a good education and speaks English. If
the entire family. That’s why they’re leaving. Bahareh had her wish, the U.S. and North
As of this writing, the family plans to Carolina would do a better job by its new
relocate to Sacramento, California, where arrivals. At the risk of sounding ungrateful
Bahareh will start the fall semester at for the opportunity she’s been given by the
community college and Sina will start United States to start her life anew, she crit-
Save the Date
high school. A Sacramento-based Iranian icizes the social policies that she believes
Bahá’í who they know through connections force refugees into dead-end work before
11.15.2008
in Turkey offered to loan the family the they can speak the language or navigate
funds to move and to help them find jobs. within their new country. She was repeat-
Bahareh called social services agencies edly advised to work two or three jobs for
in California and verified that the safety a few years before going to college, and her
BUBBLE BALL GALA EVENT
net there is more generous than in North family was denied some forms of monetary
charlottemagazine.com
Carolina. Two other Bahá’ís left Charlotte support because she’s fluent in English and
for California in July after trying their best physically able to carry such a workload. But
to make ends meet for six months. this tough-minded young woman replies,
“People who go to work never go to school.”
And Bahareh is going to go to school.
B ahareh says some of her extended
family was settled in Australia and
Tamela Rich is a freelance writer in Charlotte.
Canada, which she says provide
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