December 2020 – Atheist Refugee Relief

December 22, 2020January 8, 2021

Asylum refused despite persecution in Iran

Guest article by Mostafa Mostafania

My name is Mostafa Mostafania. I lived in Rasht, Iran, and grew up in a non-religious family.

I had many questions about Islamic teachings and why they are so different from people’s daily lives. In addition, my studies in physics and mathematics had changed my view of the religion. Since I also studied Islamic philosophy and law about 10 years ago, my view of the religion changed and I left it.

While still in Iran, I learned about the concept of atheism and found it to be exactly in line with my own thoughts. After I left the university, I criticized religion more and more and propagated atheism. I collaborated with many self-confident people and used social media to share my thoughts with the others.

December 15, 2020December 15, 2020

Atheist Refugee Relief featured in Stanford Social Innovation Review

The Field Report of the Stanford Social Innovation Review reports about the work of the Säkulare Flüchtlingshilfe e.V. It describes the difficult situation of atheist refugees in Germany.

On top of the personal crises that come with what they have experienced and their new reality of life, there is the threatening situation in the initial reception centers. There, they continue to be exposed to the same Islamists from whom they seek protection here. Author Priti Salian illustrates the work of Säkulare Flüchtlingshilfe (Atheist Refugee Relief), an organization that assists people from this group, which is hardly perceived by the general public, in starting their new lives and ensures their safety.

December 1, 2020December 1, 2020

This is how things started moving

Adel is a refugee from Iraq. He writes about the beginning of the Atheist Refugee Relief Stuttgart and his new life in Germany.

Adel, why and how did you come to Germany?

Even as a youth in Iraq I had my doubts about religion or let’s say I had questions, but in the Muslim world one must not question religion and certainly not criticize it. I found it strange that we should worship a God who always threatened us with hell. Everything revolved around Allah. He also dominated our private lives. By the time I started studying medicine, faith clashed with the theory of evolution. I had the opportunity to go on the Internet and then read about evolution and human rights. I had to hide my thoughts, because there were a few people with whom one exchanged ideas, but always under aliases. The vice squad was watching out, and I was aware that I was playing with fire.

Social control is already very strong in all Muslim countries. Again and again I toyed with the idea of fleeing to a country that respects human rights, because it was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress my secular thoughts. But you don’t leave your family and friends just like that. I knew I had to leave my old life, 26 years old, behind and start a completely new life. I did not know how it would be. I had never experienced living in a free country before.