Former Miss Iran, Stranded At Philippines Airport, Seeks Asylum

An Iranian beauty queen, who represented Iran in a pageant held in Manila in 2018, is now being detained at the Ninoy Aquino airport in the Philippines where she tried to enter on Oct. 17. Markk Perete, undersecretary at the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ), said, “the only reason she was held at the airport … is only because of that Red Notice issued against her.”

The “Red Notice” is issued by Interpol to alert authorities and law enforcement officials about threats and criminal activity around the globe. In this case, the Iranian woman named Bahareh Zare Bahari, was accused of assaulting an Iranian national. The incident presumably occurred in the Philippines.

The 31-year-old former Miss Iran has denied the allegations and is now seeking asylum in the Philippines because she fears that she could be imprisoned or executed for what she calls politically motivated reasons. She has now spent a week at the airport as her asylum application is processed.

The best evidence to support Bahari’s case for asylum is that if the assault warranted the “Red Notice,” there should be a record of it in Manila. However, Markk Perete from the DOJ said that the only charge against her was for commercial fraud, which was dismissed. He said the Philippines had no awareness of the assault allegations. He said, “We don’t have any cause for refusing her entry for violation of our laws.”

The political motivations by Iran likely stem from her breaking with tradition, for speaking out about the welfare of women in her country and showing support for critics of Tehran. The country is under Islamic Sharia Law, where those of the female gender are treated as second class citizens at best.

Bahari’s biggest “crime” likely occurred at last year’s Miss Intercontinental beauty pageant in Manila where she competed as Miss Iran. At the event, she waved a poster of Reza Pahlavi, an Iranian former crown prince who has criticized the Iranian regime. Bahari said to Arab News, “I used his photo in a beauty pageant and they are angry with me. If they deport me, they will give me at least 25 years in jail, if they do not kill me.”

Bahari is no stranger to the Philippines. Aside from the 2018 pageant, she had studied dentistry in 2014 and had been in and out of the country a few times with no problems until last week. She thinks the fake assault case was made as a reason to extradite her to Iran.

One thing working in her favor is that according to Phil Robertson at Human Rights Watch, “There should be no action under Iran’s Interpol red notice, especially since under Interpol rules a red notice is null and void if the person named in the notice is found to be a refugee fleeing from the state that issued it.”

Bahari’s asylum plea is now being considered by the justice department, with the help of a lawyer. A spokesperson for the Philippines’ justice department said Bahari’s asylum application would be processed in “due time."