Category: Asylum seekers

Israel: New detention facility proposed and a process for seeking asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have written on many previous occasions about Israel and refugees, indeed we have an entire category on the subject.  As we reported previously, Israel has not had a very good system for dealing with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers coming across its borders.  Here is a story from Haaretz that says that Sunday (today? maybe last Sunday?) there will be a discussion of the subject in the Netanyahu government.  I wonder though if the terrible fire in Israel will cause postponement of this project.

A proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish an installation in the south for infiltrators who mean no harm will be brought before the cabinet for approval on Sunday.

Also Sunday, the government is expected to vote on new regulations to make determining refugee status more efficient. These rules will be applied when the non-security-related infiltrators seek asylum in Israel.

Meanwhile, in an unexpected turn of events, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said late last week he doesn’t want the Prison Service managing the installation.

Determining refugee status

According to the Population and Immigration Authority, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people crossing into Israel along the border. That number is currently estimated at 34,566.

One of the government’s plans is to establish procedures for determining refugee status.

Someone who entered Israel illegally will have a year to file a request for asylum. The head of the authorities for determining refugee status will then be able to reject the application if the person’s identity is not proved or the applicant does not meet the criteria for being recognized as a refugee. The current practice is that every request for asylum involves an in-depth interview.

White South Africans can still apply for asylum in Canada

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That is apparently the message sent by the judge in the Huntley case.  Although Huntley’s claim was turned down, Eyewitness News from S. Africa (the Rainbow Nation) is reporting the decision actually confirms that whites are eligible for refugee status.  (Emphasis mine)

A Canadian judge, who overturned an immigration ruling to grant a South African man refugee status, said other South Africans may qualify.

Former Capetonian Brandon Huntley had earlier been granted refugee status, claiming the South African government was not doing enough to protect white citizens from violent crime by blacks.

Last week, Judge James Russell said he was not convinced of Huntley’s case, and that it appeared he had gone to Canada looking for a job.

However, the judge added that this does not mean that other South Africans could not apply.

Huntley’s lawyer, Russell Kaplan said the judge’s ruling opened rather than closed the door.

“Justice Russell clearly opened the door to other white South Africans who may feel that they are at risk in South Africa on account of their skin colour,” he said.

This must drive the Leftist gang at the UN a little crazy.

Australian asylum seekers sew lips shut

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They did it as a form of protest for their detention on Christmas Island!   Australia has big problem with ‘boat people’ attempting to get into Australia and this detention facility has been in the news for years.   There is probably a much larger story on this somewhere but this is what the Arizona Daily Star is reporting:

Ten asylum seekers at an Australian detention center sewed their lips together to protest delays in processing their refugee applications, as the government warned that protests will not change the outcome of the visa process.

The male asylum seekers have refused medical assistance since sewing their lips together Friday morning at the Christmas Island detention center. They are taking water and sugar.

The incident was part of a larger protest by 160 detainees at the remote center on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean where asylum seekers who illegally enter Australian waters by boat are detained.

For more on Australia’s refugee and asylee issues, visit our category on Australia, here.

Canada: Old man/young man Chinese asylum seeker used US passport

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update on the story that is now all over the news that we reported here a few days ago.

Seems the Chinese man who used an elaborate mask of an old man to board a plan in Hong Kong was helped by at least one American.

From CTV Winnipeg:

A young Chinese refugee claimant who disguised himself as an elderly white male to board a flight to Canada used a legitimate U.S. passport and other identification, CTV News has learned.

Sources close to the investigation say the man received the passport and other documents, including a boarding pass, from an elderly white American who passed through security.

The refugee claimant then flushed the documents down the airplane toilet during the flight, CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Monday night. [We’ve heard of this standard asylum-seeker procedure of flushing documents down the toilet in flight—ed]

Police in Hong Kong believe the young man had at least two accomplices, including the American.

“Officials say that this isn’t your usual human smuggling operation run by organized crime. They suspect that he might be a Chinese dissident,” Fife said.

The incident has revealed that Canada has a security leak.

Richard Kurland, a Vancouver immigration lawyer who is not involved in the case, told The Canadian Press that the media leak was a serious breach of security.

“A refugee claim happens many times a day in Canada, but an intelligence bulletin that’s current, that finds its way to CNN? It’s astonishing,” Kurland said.

“It’s a potential hole in the intelligence fence.

Read it all.

Another asylum seeker to test Canadian refugee policy

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update November 9th:  Chinese man had US passport, here.

Canada is in the midst of soul-searching over how to handle all the asylum seekers arriving in Canada these days.  Here is the latest and most novel entry so far (forget those mundane human trafficking ships)!

Old man turns into young man (CBC News) on flight, thanks to Drudge (be sure to see photos):

A young Asian male has been intercepted by authorities in Vancouver after boarding a flight from Hong Kong disguised as an elderly white man, officials say.

Canada Border Services Agency officers boarded the Air Canada plane after it landed Oct. 29 and took the man into custody, the agency said in a statement issued by its Pacific region.

[….]

The man quickly made a claim for refugee protection after his arrest, the agency said.

[….]

A CBSA official said he would appear before an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing.

His name, the date of his hearing and his reason for seeking refugee status have not been made public.

About two weeks ago we told you about an American actor and his wife, running from the law in the US, asking for asylum in Canada, here.