Friday, 18 September 2009
EU political sanctions directed against Iran's continuing nuclear energy programme have begun to spread to educational and social spheres. Recently, the Dutch government enacted a new legislation which envisages barring of Iranian nationals from access to courses related to nuclear technology. Moreover, various criminal sanctions were provided for universities and nuclear institutions in case of disobedience.
In January 2007, EU governments adopted a common approach towards Tehran and in a bid to underpin the early UN sanctions, they agreed to adopt necessary measures to prevent Iranian students from acquiring knowledge regarding nuclear and missile technology in order to create atomic bomb. The implementation of the EU sanction was left to national authorities and up to now, most countries have chosen to put forward visa restrictions for students from Iran.
Following the adoption of the new law, a group of Dutch-Iranian students filed a suit against the Dutch government and claimed that measures are racist and are in breach with country's anti-discrimination laws. The Dutch lawyer Jelle Klaas, who filed the application against the government, stated that, "These measures are in clear violation of international human rights and anti-discriminatory treaties, as well being utterly racist." Klass said that the mentioned legislation has two dimensions. Firstly, it stigmatizes Iranian nationals living in Netherlands and consequent prejudices will inevitably interrupt their integration with the host community. Secondly, it is pointless to target the Iranian students as today any information defined as "sensitive", is available on the internet and in Iranian universities.
The Netherlands is well known for taking part in one of the 20th century's famous nuclear spying operations. Abdul Quadeer Khan, a Pakistani national, obtained an advanced degree from Delft Technical University and worked as a nuclear physicist at the Physical Dynamic Research Laboratory between 1972 and 1975. However, Khan disappeared in 1975 and returned to Pakistan as the leader of nuclear weapons research programme.
Ceren Mutus (JTW)
