On Sunday 16th of October 2022, we, the members of the Iranian community of Wellington, will gather to commemorate the young lives lost amid the protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini. To this point, at least 201 people - many of them children and teenagers – have been killed in Iran for simply demanding their basic rights. Protesters have been killed in 18 provinces, with the most reported in Sistan-Baluchistan and Kurdistan, where Amini lived before her death in morality-police custody in Tehran. Despite being so far away from our homeland, we are determined to be their voice and keep their memories and missions alive.

We are calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the bloodshed and end the killing of children. We also call on the New Zealand government to break its silence, to recognise this liberating movement publicly, to condemn the violation of children’s and women’s rights in Iran, and to take a strong diplomatic action through summoning Iran's ambassador and holding the regime to account. The protests in Iran are not a domestic matter to be addressed by the regime, it is a call for liberty by women and the young generation that are not willing to continue living under oppression. This is a matter of humanity and it is time for Aotearoa New Zealand to recognise it for what it is and to stand on the right side of history.

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