Imprisoned in Iran for working at the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education.
Imagine that you, and all those who are like you, are forbidden by the government to undertake further education after finishing school. Perhaps you did well at school, but once your identity became known to your teachers they told you that it was a shame – why don’t you change? You see your friends go onto university – some with school results that were not as good as yours. They commence a new life, talking about what they would do in the future. Gradually their lives become very separate from yours.
What do you do in these circumstances? The government have jailed your community’s leaders on spurious charges that human rights organisations and parliaments around the world have condemned. Many other members of your community have been arrested on dubious charges, released on payment of exorbitant bail, and live with the knowledge that any time, anywhere, they may be re-arrested. Your community’s members are banned from government employment, essential business licences are hard to come by. Your community’s children are harassed by teachers at school, cemeteries used by your community are desecrated, the media is filled with messages of hate towards your community. This has been occurring for over 30 years.
You have left school, are banned from further education and are a member of a persecuted community. What do you do?
