Mahdi
Mahdi fled Iran after being tortured by the government security services. He reported to the Dutch immigration officials on arrival in Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. He had no expectations other than that his story of persecution would receive a fair hearing by the Dutch immigration authorities.
"I was literally destroyed, fresh scar, bad health."
Six years later, Mahdi is without status, having lodged three asylum applications in the Netherlands. Following the failure of his final appeal, Mahdi fled to Denmark to avoid expulsion. There, he applied for asylum and was undergoing psychiatric care when he was returned to the Netherlands under the Dublin Regulation.
Mahdi’s desperate search for protection exposes the risk of fast tracking the applications of vulnerable asylum seekers.
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