( CNN ) -- The Netherlands has rejected an asylum plea by a gay Iranian teenager trying to escape possible persecution in his homeland . Mehdi Kazemi believes he will face persecution if he is made to return to Iran . Mehdi Kazemi , 19 , had originally sought asylum in Britain , where he was taking classes on a student visa , because , he said , his boyfriend had been executed in Iran after saying he and Kazemi had been in a gay relationship . Britain 's Home Office rejected his request , prompting Kazemi to flee to Netherlands . Tuesday 's decision by the Council of State -- the highest administrative court in the Netherlands -- means Kazemi could face deportation to Britain , which he fears will send him back to Iran . Council spokeswoman Daniela Tempelman said the council decided it must comply with the Dublin Regulation and return Kazemi to Britain . Watch how teenager has lost his right to remain . » . Under the Dublin Regulation , European Union member nations agree that an application for asylum submitted in any EU country would be handled by that country alone . The regulation seeks to ensures that an asylum seeker is not redirected from nation to nation simply because none will take responsibility . Kazemi 's initial appeal for asylum in the Netherlands , made in October , was rejected . He then appealed unsuccessfully to a regional court in December . His last appeal was to the Council of State in January . Tempelman said that in order for the Dutch court to consider Kazemi 's asylum application , he needed to prove that Britain did not handle his asylum application properly , but he was n't able to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the British government . Kazemi now has exhausted his chances for appeal in the Netherlands and , according to Tempelman , could be returned to Britain on a short notice . The British government about six months ago accepted the Dutch request to take him back . Kazemi 's lawyer will have the option of taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights to request an `` interim measure '' that could allow Kazemi to stay in Europe until further notice . `` If anybody signs his deportation papers and says , look , he 's got to be deported to Iran , that means they have signed his death sentence , '' said Kazemi 's uncle Saeed , who asked CNN to withhold his last name over safety concerns . Gay rights activists in Europe and Iran are also researching Kazemi 's case . `` When Britain is prepared to send a young man back to possible execution , that is inhumanity on a monumental scale , '' said Peter Tatchell , an activist for gay campaign group OutRage . `` And I hang my head in shame , as a British citizen . '' In a written statement , Britain 's Home Office said that even though homosexuality is illegal in Iran and homosexuals do experience discrimination , it does not believe that homosexuals are routinely persecuted purely on the basis of their sexuality . E-mail to a friend .
Iranian teenager loses appeal to remain in the Netherlands . 19-year-old had sought asylum in UK but is to be sent home . Mehdi Kazemi says he will face persecution in his homeland .