Dutch grant special asylum rights to gay Iranians


AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government has granted special asylum rights to Iranian homosexuals, despite earlier comments by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk who said they were safe so long as they were discrete.

Verdonk, whose tough stance on immigration and asylum has been condemned by many on the left, based her decision on an unpublished report by Human Rights Watch, which refers to systematic abuse of homosexuals in Iran, her ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.