HIGHER EDUCATION OF BAHÁ'ÍS IN IRAN

Motion Text

That this House notes that a series of co-ordinated raids were carried out by the Iranian authorities against the Bah' Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) on 21 May 2011 in which 30 homes were entered in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan and Shiraz, and 14 Bah's were arrested; further notes that the BIHE provides a higher educational programme for young Bah's who are barred from university in Iran and that this constitutes an entirely peaceful and creative response from the Bah's of Iran to the stifling of their human development; and calls on the Government to exert diplomatic pressure on the Iranian authorities for the immediate release of the 14 individuals who have been unjustly arrested, and ultimately to allow Bah's to have access to higher education in the same manner as other citizens in Iran.