“Mehdi Shokr Khoda is a gay Christian 19-year-old Iranian refugee seeking political asylum in Sweden. Sweden grants asylum for LGBTQ people escaping queer-phobic regimes, but Sweden’s Migration Board has previously said that it thinks Khoda is lying about his situation.”
Sweden is perhaps the most welcoming nation on earth for refugees, especially unvetted Muslim migrants, but not quite so much for legitimate cases involving the persecution of gays and/or Christians. Sweden’s Migration Board rejected Mehdi Shokr Khoda’s application two years ago, “stating that he had neither clearly explained his coming out process nor provided sufficient proof of his gay and Christian identities.”
Sweden becomes strict on asylum applicants once Christianity enters the equation, as we saw in 2017 in the case of a Christian convert, actress Aideen Strandsson, who stated that she was told by Swedish authorities that “it’s not our problem if you decided to become a Christian.” Strandsson also faced death in Iran for apostasy; Hungary eventually offered her asylum. “Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén released a statement on Hungary’s official government website saying: ‘Right from the beginning, we have differentiated between economic migrants and genuine asylum-seekers.'” Sweden has not made such a distinction, and is now in chaos because of it. Semjen also said that “Christians would have a much easier time integrating into Hungarian society than Muslim migrants,” a fact that has been proven across Europe.
“This gay teen faces certain death if the government deports him back to Iran,” by Daniel Villarreal, LGBTQ Nation, February 17, 2019:
Mehdi Shokr Khoda is a gay Christian 19-year-old Iranian refugee seeking political asylum in Sweden. Sweden grants asylum for LGBTQ people escaping queer-phobic regimes, but Sweden’s Migration Board has previously said that it thinks Khoda is lying about his situation.
In two weeks, the Swedish government will decide whether or not to deport him back to Iran where he could face violence and execution for his religious affiliation and sexual orientation.
Two years ago, Khoda’s transgender sister fled to Sweden and was granted asylum. However, when Khoda himself applied, the Migration Board rejected his application stating that he had neither clearly explained his coming out process nor provided sufficient proof of his gay and Christian identities.
For example, Khoda only received an official Baptism after he moved to Sweden. Khoda claims this is because such rituals are dangerous in the Muslim-majority homeland and punishable there by death.
Khoda is currently dating a Swedish resident named Carlo Rapisarda. The two live together. But in order to marry, Khoda needs a resident card which isn’t being granted to him by the Swedish government
Khoda is currently raising money to help his case. On the couple’s GoFundMe page …..