After three years, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe remains jailed in Iran. Our fight for her freedom must go on

At a time when Brexit is dominating the government’s agenda, we need to make sure our citizens come first. If we allow this to happen to one of us, we allow this to happen to all of us

Today marks the three-year anniversary of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s wrongful imprisonment in Iran on false charges. This sad milestone takes place just days after Mother’s Day, the third Nazanin has spent apart from her four-year-old daughter, Gabriella. Currently living with grandparents in Tehran, Gabriella has been separated from both her parents for over half her life.

This is an injustice no innocent British family should ever have to suffer. An injustice that led to the British government granting this innocent mother from London diplomatic protection, a formal recognition by our government that Nazanin’s treatment fails to meet Iran’s obligations under international law and elevates this to a formal state to state issue. The travesty, as we have all seen, continues to this day.

Nazanin, like myself, is a naturalised British citizen. We were both born in countries with fewer freedoms than we have in the UK. Out of all the countries in the world, we chose to come to Britain, we chose to become British, we chose to build our lives and contribute to society here.

The inscription on my British passport reads: “Her Britannic Majesty’s secretary of state requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.”

When I first read this, I felt safe, I felt protected, I felt free. It never occurred to me that my British citizenship I so cherish would make me a target for foreign governments that had disagreements with mine – until Nazanin was detained in Iran.

If we allow this to happen to one of us, we allow this to happen to all of us. History has proven this to be true – which is why I campaign tirelessly to free Nazanin.

Nazanin and her family have been going through the worst period of their lives these last three years. Nazanin’s husband, Richard Ratcliffe, has been campaigning tirelessly to reunite his family while keeping Nazanin’s hopes up during their brief phone calls from Evin Prison, raising his daughter on Skype and going to work during the day to make sure they have a home to come back to. They need backup, they need caring people to come together and stand by their side, they need us.

And this is what we can do to help.

We need to keep contacting our MPs to make sure our government puts people before profit. At a time when Brexit is dominating the government’s agenda and they’re looking to secure trade deals, we need to make sure our citizens come first. We need to make sure Nazanin’s release and safe return to the UK comes first before any trade deals with Iran.

Calling on the Iranian authorities to release Nazanin immediately and unconditionally is also one way we can effect change, especially if we don’t let up. Sign the Change.org petition and share it with your friends and family.

Don’t stop showing support for Nazanin and her family. Come along to vigils and protests, including the upcoming event at 5pm today in Fortune Green, West Hampstead where supporters will be hanging messages of what home means to them on Gabriella's favourite tree. Follow the FreeNazanin campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Let them know they’re not alone, that we’re here to help, that we’ll be by their side until Nazanin is free.

Richard has some pointers too. Speaking to me, he said: “A wise activist once told me: Love is a verb, not a noun. It is a doing word. What people do for Nazanin and Gabriella – signing petitions, letters to MPs, attending events – has not yet brought them home. But it has kept reminding us that beyond those prison walls there is also a world of care and kindness, that there will also be a different day. I am eternally grateful across the dark times to everyone who has helped keep that alive.”

When we come together from all walks of life to embrace our common humanity, we give each other hope, we give each other strength, we become the light that outshines the darkness. Let’s come together now to free Nazanin.