Category: Asylum seekers

Comment worth noting: whites escaping South Africa

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

While the world’s attention is focused on soccer and the World Cup in South Africa—the so-called rainbow nation—we learn from a reader that life is hell for many white people there and the lucky ones are escaping as virtual refugees to the West and to Australia.

Previously we told you about the Huntley case in Canada, where this South African white man sought asylum from the persecution he was experiencing because of the color of his skin.  Last night we heard from a reader, Lee, commenting at this post about her life in South Africa.

Please also visit this post I wrote in April about the intriguing issue of whites being the new refugees.  I wonder will the political Far Left embrace them as they do people of color?

Here is Lee:

Why just the focus on Afrikaner whites? I am a white english speaking South African. In the past two years I have seen and experienced racist acts and policies destroying the lives of me and my husband and the people I know around me. Not one year has passed where my husband and I have not either been mugged, held up at gunpoint, robbed ,racially harrassed (racial harrassment is a daily event!)or been in an event where we felt a great threat to our lives, and most often its a combination of the above mentioned. This has happened at such a variety of places that walking around anywhere in Jo-burg is done with your heart in your throat pumping with fear.

Everyday brings with it a number of renewed major and minor traumas,all of which communicate a clear message that your days as a white person in South Africa are numbered. As we come out of our flat to go to work in the mornings the pavement is lined with the same black people everyday and evening watching your every move. The people residing in the block of flats can not at any time make it obvious that they might go away for more than a day without the garuantee of being burgled (which has happened countless of occasions). We got burgled in the first month we moved in when we slept over at a friend’s place. Quite a few people had faced the armed burglers in their flats. There was a man that lived there who set his alarm clock to go off throughout the night in order to keep watch on his car, due to the continuous car theft and the constant inaction and apathy to address it.

As you leave you will(garuanteed) be approached and asked to give either cigarretes or money or both and meet with an aggressive response should you not have any of these to offer. A general rule is to walk away as quickly as you can because the person is likely to follow you either threatening, scowling, swearing or wailing (THIS IS NOT AN EXAGERRATION!)

Worklife is fraught with racial tension. Both my husband and I was unemployed and turned down in jobs for months due to the colour of our skin (B.E.E -the Black Empowerment equity policy)or being too over qualified. While working at a retail shop, people would on a number of occasions ignore my manager (who was black)and wait for me to finish with a customer which could take up to a half hour in order to ask me for money. Often my husband would express his concern about a security guard at his work who takes pleasure in telling him that he is going to kill him. Another friend of ours has three degrees in law and is yet to find any concrete work because of the colour of his skin. There are numerous friends who are qualified yet face destitution because of B.E.E.

There is no social security in general, if you should lose your job. The U.I.F (unemployment insurance fund) queues are endless and the office turns you away month after month disregarding your social position with impunity, despite you paying monthly installments for years. The degrading situation of being told by a black person that “This is great” because “Its payback time” is a common and daily event (not to mention the other offensive comments that come with it). Paranoia, depression, anxiety and suicide is a normality in our daily social circles.

A large proportion of these mental conditions are also a result of the lawless conditions we endure. In our previous residence, we were bombarded with continuous noise that rattled our windows. Everyday of the week it would start at midnight continuing up to four in the morning. Weekends the noise would start off at three in the afternoon and on holidays it would start at six in the morning both extending around the clock with one hour breaks inbetween. It caused numerous amounts of traumas for various residents arround the area as the offenders grew in confidence with gun pointing, racial confrontation/accusations, threats and assault, due to the inaction of the police.

Not once have the police gone further than filling out statements (which was in extreme cases) and the procedures for some incidences are so packed with beaurocracy that no one has the adequate knowledge, time or resources to follow it through. Many fear for their lives if they speak up because of this and most are silenced by race accussations.

Recently we came to Australia, undergoing the hopefull procedure of attaining residency,. The event was a miracle and this short period has painfully exposed our trauma of South africa, as we constantly find ourselves having anxieties in scenarios this first world presents as perfectly safe. There are an array of tourists that have visited South Africa with mixed experiences. Our story is about the local South Africans (English and Afrikaans) stuck in this reality, many being too afraid to talk in fear of being targeted. This is their story too.

Fear of rape enough to get refugee status in Canada?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

A recent decision by a Canadian court could open the door for any Haitian woman believing she might be raped to seek asylum in Canada.

From The Star:

A groundbreaking Federal Court ruling has opened doors to Haitian women who are seeking refugee status in Canada because they are afraid of being raped in their own country, where sexual violence is a growing problem.

“It means a Haitian woman making a refugee claim on that basis should succeed, as long as conditions in Haiti remain as they are now,” said lawyer Raoul Boulakia.

Boulakia represents Elmancia Dezameau, a Haitian-born mother of four who sought refugee protection after arriving in Toronto in 2007, arguing she and her four daughters were at risk of being targeted for rape if she were returned home.

In support of her case, Boulakia filed reports from several international aid agencies, including Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders, which identified rape as a systemic problem in Haiti, one that has worsened since January’s earthquake.

Does this mean all Haitian women are eligible for refugee status in Canada?  It sounds like it to this lawyer.

Lawyers for the federal government argued that if Dezameau won her case, all female refugee claimants from Haiti would automatically be granted refugee protection simply because they are women.

Pinard [a Justice] rejected that argument, saying female refugee claimants from Haiti will still have to prove their risk of being raped is more than a mere possibility.

According to this story from The Star at least, it sounds like she didn’t have to submit anything in court besides general reports that rape in Haiti was widespread.  So is the Justice saying she still has to prove she is personally threatened?

Rape as a weapon to terrorize women is used throughout Africa too, so does this mean all women from certain countries would be eligible for refugee status in Canada?   It is hard to tell exactly what this ruling does.

Senators Leahy and Sessions scuffle over refugee program expansion bill

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has an interesting piece in its legislative updates for the week about the hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Leahy’s bill (we mentioned it here)  that would, among other things, make it easier for asylum seekers to enter the US.

Here is what FAIR says:

During last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Ranking Member Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) clashed with Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Ver.) regarding his refugee bill. Entitled the “Refugee Protection Act of 2010” (S. 3113), Leahy’s bill seeks to amend the current process that aliens must follow in order to receive asylum or refugee status.

Despite the fact that the U.S. currently admits more refugees annually than all other nations combined, Leahy opened the hearing by charging that U.S. law does not do enough to welcome refugees. Leahy argued his bill was necessary to “restore our Nation as a beacon of hope for those who suffer from persecution around the world.” (Hearing, May 19, 2010; See also Leahy’s Written Statement, May 19, 2010). In contrast, Sessions said in his opening statement that he was “proud to live in a nation that is so welcoming of those who are facing persecution” and that “we need to be diligent in our analysis of any proposal that seeks to change the law by which people are admitted into the United States.” (Hearing, May 19, 2010).

Sessions then identified several provisions of Leahy’s bill that he deemed to be “problematic.” These included:

Go to FAIR and read the rest.  It is very good.   I was especially interested in the testimony of a former refugee who was alarmed by the lax protection from terrorism the bill affords.

Completely off topic: For a laugh watch this campaign ad for an opponent of Leahy’s in Vermont.

Obama’s Auntie Zeituni granted asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Ten years after arriving in the US and six years after receiving a deportation order, President Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, has been granted asylum.  We first told you about Obama’s aunt living illegally in the US, here, just before Obama’s election to the Presidency in 2008.

From the Boston Herald:

A jubilant Zeituni Onyango celebrated in South Boston today after learning a U.S. immigration court granted her asylum – a decision her neighbors speculated was probably helped by her nephew, President Obama.

“It’s obvious her nephew helped,” said neighbor Marion Swain. “She’s a very nice person – very well spoken. That’s life.”

Onyango faced being deported to Kenya by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but a judge ruled she can now apply for a work visa and green card.

“I don’t want to be disturbed,” said Onyango through the door of her public housing unit on L Street.

[…..]

The ruling to allow Onyango to stay in the Hub was mailed Friday and comes three months after the half-sister of Obama’s late father testified at a closed hearing in Boston, where she arrived in a wheelchair. Two doctors testified in support of her case then.

The basis for her asylum request was never made public. People who seek asylum must show that they face persecution in their homeland on the basis of religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group.

“The asylum process is confidential and she wants to keep it that way, so we can’t get into details on why the judge granted asylum or the exact basis for her claim,” said her attorney Scott Bratton. He added: “She doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her.”

[…..]

Medical issues also could have played a role. Onyango’s lawyers told the Herald she was disabled and was learning to walk again after being paralyzed from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.

Onyango moved to the United States in 2000. Her first asylum request was rejected, and she was ordered deported in 2004. But she didn’t leave the country and continued to live in Boston.

Although regrettable, I don’t believe one’s medical circumstances are grounds for a positive asylum determination.  Does this mean that we are now going to grant asylum to Kenyans when Kenya is a relatively stable country?

Use our search function for more on ‘Aunt Zeituni.’

11 Somali pirates brought to Virginia to stand trial for piracy

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I don’t often get into the Somali piracy issue, but this story is concerning.  For firing on Navy vessels, shouldn’t these guys be treated as military combatants.  Why are they in civilian courts in Virginia?  Think about it, we are going to pay for their trials, then their incarceration for life (if they get life in prison) and what if they don’t, say they are released in a few years, where do they go then—will they seek asylum here?  We don’t send asylum seekers back to ‘war-torn’ Somalia!

The Washington Post:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Eleven suspected pirates from Somalia have been brought to the United States to face piracy and other charges for attacks on two U.S. Navy ships off the coast of Africa, the Justice Department said on Friday.

It said the suspects were scheduled to appear on Friday in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia. The 11 men had been held on U.S. ships for weeks off Somalia’s coast as U.S. officials decided what to do with them. [You can bet Holder’s gang in the Justice Dept. was saying, s…, we can’t send them to Gitmo]

Five defendants were captured after the March 31 attack in which the Navy frigate, the USS Nicholas, exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel in the Indian Ocean west of the Seychelles, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.

Two of the accused pirates opened fire at night on what they believed to be a merchant ship, but it actually was the Navy vessel, according to U.S. court documents filed in the case.

In the other incident, six defendants were charged with the April 10 attack on another Navy vessel, the USS Ashland, in the Gulf of Aden. They allegedly opened fire on the vessel with small arms from their boat.

In addition to piracy, the criminal charges included attacks to plunder a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence.

If convicted of piracy, the suspects face a mandatory sentence of life in prison, a Justice Department spokesman said.

Thomas Jefferson knew what to do with Muslim pirates on the African coast and he didn’t bring them to Virginia to stand trial in a civilian court.

For more information, see this post from April of last year about how quasi-American Omar Jamal of Minneapolis (now of the UN!) dashed off to NYC to defend the only other pirate brought to the US.  Look for more of the same sort of publicity hounds as this story develops.

Update:  Andrew McCarthy weighs in on piracy here.