The translator Fariba Tabrizi (29, played by Jasmin Tabatabai) is at risk of the death penalty in her own country, Iran, after the vice squad discovers she is homosexual. With support from a relative, Fariba flees to Germany. When she is in the refugee detention centre at Frankfurt Airport her application for asylum is rejected. She lives hour by hour with the fear of being deported. Her poor prospects are improved by the suicide of a fellow-inmate from Iran as she assumes his identity and, as Siamak Mustafai, and using his temporary permit of sojourn, is re-located to Swabia.