Iranian protester left blind in one eye, faces barriers to come to Canada for help

WARNING: Some readers may find the details in this story disturbing. Discretion is advised.

Saman, a 30-year-old Iranian national, has been left blind in one eye for the rest of his life.

“From a near distance, he shot at my face, and I lose my left eye forever,” he told Global News.

Saman, whose last name Global News is not revealing due to safety concerns, said on Oct. 1, 2022, an Islamic Republic security officer stood just 10 feet away from him, raised his gun and fired a rubber bullet, hitting his left eye.

He said the regime’s officer aimed at his face, recognizing him as one of the activists who had gone night after night to Vali Asr square in Tehran to protest against the Iranian government.

“I have damage from tooth and skull and brain,” he added.

Saman is one of the hundreds of victims to have suffered severe eye injuries by security forces since mid-September according to doctors in Iran.

Saman, who spoke over zoom from an undisclosed location outside Iran, said he drove himself to several hospitals while holding onto his mutilated eye.

He said most hospitals refused to treat him given the risks medics face treating demonstrators.

Finally, one doctor agreed to perform a quick surgery on him. He said a nurse told him authorities were searching for him and in just a few hours – he managed to escape. He left behind his life, family, home, and job.

Saman said he is now in hiding from the regime and his life is still in danger.

“They are tracking me everywhere and I think they want to kill me,” he said.

Saman’s story compelled Vancouver registered nurse Mahi Etminan with the BC Cancer Foundation and her brother Dr. Mahyar Etminan, who works at an Eye Care Centre, and UBC’s Deptment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Department of Medicine, to reach out and help.

Mahi also works with plastic surgeons who are willing to perform surgery for free on Saman.

She has been in contact with Saman daily on the phone and is determined to do anything she can to help him.

Mahi and Mahyar are trying to bring over Saman to Canada on humanitarian grounds but the application process has been difficult.

“For someone like Saman we can clearly see that there’s a lot of obstacles for him to be able to come to a safe place when his life is in danger and he has to change locations every day,” Mahi told Global News.

“I would like to ask our Immigration system what can we do for someone like Saman?”

Saman needs five sponsors but he needs to be approved first by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) for sponsorship said Erica Olmstead, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer at Edelmann & Co Law Offices.

“IF you don’t have that (UNHCR) it’s a full stop to the application no matter how sympathetic the circumstances,” Olmstead said.

Mahi and Saman said the problem, is that he would have to hand over his documents to get that UNHCR approval. Doing so could potentially expose his whereabouts to the Islamic Republic which is reportedly after him.

“If they go forward to the UN or country government it’s possible that information could get shared with the host country of Iran and it could put their life at risk. There are problems in the process where you’re requiring a person as part of this refugee resettlement application to get a document that is impossible for them to get,” Olmstead added.

She said that’s the threshold that must be met to even be considered eligible to be sponsored. The only other pathway, she added, is to link up to a sponsorship agreement holder who can sponsor people who haven’t been approved by the UNHCR, but those groups have caps on the number that be sponsored and require proof of sufficient funds for the first year to support the individual.

In October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the first Freedom Human Chain in support of demonstrators fighting for their freedoms in Iran. During the rally, Trudeau called the Islamic Republic a “brutal regime that does not represent the beautiful Iranian people, that does not represent the spirit of Iran.”

Mahi said she appreciates all the verbal support the Government of Canada has made toward the revolutionary movement in Iran and Iranian demonstrators, but she said “at this point we need action.”

Dozens of Iranian-Canadians have expressed to Global News that they would appreciate the same policies made for Ukrainian refugees toward Iranians like Saman in need of a safe place.

In an email response, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada wrote: “The Government of Canada is deeply concerned about the people affected by the situation in Iran. We are actively monitoring the situation and engaging with our international partners to determine how Canada can best assist. When responding to international crises, there are often similarities in that people may be fleeing persecution of some sort, but the immigration response may differ.”

Olmstead said what the government did for Ukrainian refugees was exceptional.

“They actually made everyone eligible for a work permit to come here which was a very quick process to get them here on temporary status, two or three years,” she said. “No other refugee-producing country has been given any sort of program like that.”

The option for all other refugees, Olmstead added, is the Overseas Refugee Resettlement process which could take two to three years or more to process for the person to ultimately arrive in Canada. In Saman’s case, she said the federal government could grant a waiver based on the circumstances given the support Saman has in Canada.

Time is not on Saman’s side.

His health, he said, is deteriorating with immediate medical care needed for his eye, which is getting smaller and needs an implant. The initial surgery he got in Iran, he said, was quick and only saved the anatomy of his eye.

Mahi said “we have been in contact with him. We’ve been trying to help him, my brother, and (me). My brother looked into ways to raise money for him both for his medical care and his legal fees.”

GoFundMe would not accept Saman’s case due to U.S. sanctions against Iranians, but a fundraiser site, GiveSendGo is accepting donations for Saman’s medical and legal fees.

Saman said he dreams of going back to Iran but can’t for obvious reasons.

He wants people to know that what is happening in Iran is not a protest over the hijab but “a revolution. This is not a protest. We don’t need to edit the government system.”

Saman said the Islamic Republic is a threat to the world and would like his people to just have a normal life.

“Iranians are kind people. They deserve a real life. This is not a life. This is torture,” Saman said.