Philippines grants asylum to Iranian beauty queen who feared death if deported

Bahareh Zare Bahari was denied entry to the Philippines upon her return from Dubai last month, with authorities citing an Iranian arrest warrant

Rights groups had said she faced torture, ill-treatment and unfair trial if she was sent back to the country of her birth

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Published: 7:00am, 9 Nov 2019Updated: 7:34am, 9 Nov 2019

An Iranian beauty queen sought by Tehran on criminal charges has been granted political asylum in the Philippines, an official said on Friday, ending a three-week stand-off at Manila airport.

Bahareh Zare Bahari, based in the Philippines since 2014, was denied entry into the Southeast Asian nation on October 17 when she returned from Dubai, with Philippine authorities citing an Iranian warrant for her arrest.

Claiming Tehran wanted to punish her for opposition to Iran’s theocratic regime, Bahari then sought refugee status, holed up in a room at Manila’s international airport and using social media to rally support from the international community – including a plea to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

“They will kill me”, Bahari told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper last month, referring to Iranian authorities.

Philippine Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said that Bahari had been granted political asylum, adding that she was detained because Iran had asked Interpol for help in arresting and returning her on assault and battery charges.

“She will be getting out of the airport and coming into Philippine territory,” Perete said, but declined to discuss the grounds on which she was granted asylum citing confidentiality rules in the United Nations refugee convention.