Category: Asylum seekers

Uigher squabble continues, China says, hand them over!

~ Ann Corcoran

The controversy continues over what to do with 17 Uigher (Uyghur) Chinese Muslim detainees being held at Gitmo.   Now a German city says it will give them asylum, although the German government is so far noncommittal.  From Canwest News Service:

NEW YORK — The German city of Munich added its name Friday to communities offering to welcome members of the Chinese minority Uyghur group detained at Guantanamo Bay — presenting possible alternatives to Canada as activists press Ottawa to accept at least three.

The US says the Uighers caught on battlefields in Afghanistan are not a terrorism threat to the West, but to the Chinese they are terrorists.

The Uyghurs are somewhat of an exceptional case in that the 17 are the only remaining Guantanamo detainees who have been totally cleared by the U.S. authorities of having terrorist links.

But the United States fears they may face torture or other abuse if returned to China, which does consider them terrorists who seek an independent Muslim homeland in the northwestern part of the country.

China wants them back.  Could we have an uptick in international tension over what to do with the prisoners from the soon-to-be-closed military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and whether they will be given asylum in the West?

Beyond any security concerns, there remains the possibility that settling Guantanamo Uyghurs will lead to friction with China, whose embassy in Ottawa Friday issued a statement calling on governments to reject the “Chinese terrorist suspects.”

Ho hum, another hot potato for the Obama Administration which will ultimately make the decision.

China wants its Uigher terrorists back

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The debate is apparently raging in Canada about whether that country will take some of the Uighers (Uyghurs), Chinese Muslims, detained now at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  Judy told you the other day about the Canadian interest.  It is increasingly unclear if that is government interest or just leftwing activists wishful thinking.

Here is an article from Canada.com (CanWest News Service) containing a little bit of biographical information on one of those Muslims seeking asylum.

China has unsuccessfully pressed the U.S. to repatriate the Uyghurs, saying that they are terrorists who are seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the northwestern part of the country.

The only refugee applicant whose name has been revealed is Anvar (Ali) Hassan, a dissident who fled China to live in Afghanistan in 2001. He was later caught in the hills of Pakistan and handed over to the U.S.

Hassan contends he will be tortured if he is forced to return to China, where authorities assert that the Uyghurs detained at Guantanamo were fighting with the Taliban forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[….]

A summary of Hassan’s case, supplied by his lawyers, says that he admitted to military training in Afghanistan, but that his motivation was “to fight the oppressive Chinese government.”

He says that he was tortured and beaten in prison in China in 1999, where he was held for one month just for being Uyghur.

No decision has been made on any of those Gitmo guys going to Canada. 

There are also several other Guantanamo detainees eyeing Canada for settlement and the federal government has been adamant it will not accept anyone believed to be a threat to the security of Canada.

By the way, I am assuming Canada treats asylum seekers in a similar fashion as we do in the US.  They are accorded all the privileges that refugees receive:  subsidized housing, food stamps, a caseworker, health care, and English language instruction.

What do you think the chances are that Hassan will settle down in Canada with a wife, a job and a house with a picket fence?

Quote of the day

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We don’t really have a quote of the day, but I have one today anyway.  Wrap your mind around the fact that the world’s economy is struggling and then consider this (referring to the Rohingya boat men story we have been following).  From AP:

“It is a horrible humanitarian crisis unfolding, the fairly large numbers of people leaving in these boats, either drowning at sea or finding themselves in exploitative, abuse situations on arrival,” said Chris Lom, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration.

[….]

“The issue of people in poor countries trying to reach richer ones is not going to stop,” he said. “It’s going to become more serious and it needs to be addressed, not just regionally, but globally.”

Address it?  How?  I would say we are ‘on the horns of a dilemma.’

Rohingya: Today’s news from Thailand

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday we told you that 78 more Rohingya illegal aliens have been apprehended in Thailand.    Sixty-six have been sent to jail (the other 12 are minors).

RANONG, Jan 28 – 66 illegal Rohingya migrants sent before a Thai judge in this gateway to Myanmar on Wednesday were fined 1,000 baht each (nearly US$30), and when none were able to produce the funds, the judge sentenced them each to five days imprisonment.

The wrangling is well underway between on one side the UNHCR and human rights groups who say the Rohingya Muslims are persecuted and thus should be given asylum,  and the Thai government which maintains they are economic migrants and thus illegal aliens subject to deportation.

The migrants represent the latest influx of Rohingya who have been entering Thailand illegally amid accusations that the Thai military have mistreated them. Human rights groups fear that repatriation could lead to further difficulties.

“There is no reasonable ground to believe that these illegal migrants fled from their country of origin for well-founded fear of being persecuted,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Thailand faces an “enormous burden” because of 3 million illegal migrants currently in the country, the statement said.

Note:  the emphasis above is not mine, it is in the original story.

Rohingya News Roundup

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

There is so much Rohingya news over the last two days, I can’t begin to report it all.  So, I’ve decided to give you links to follow-up on yourselves today.

If you are new to RRW and wondering how this illegal alien controversy in Thailand affects you, it does.  There will soon be a plea to take these Burmese Rohingya Muslims to your town or city.  What the Thai government has done is to give refugee advocates the publicity they needed to push a campaign that has been in the works for a long time.

* New batch of Rohingya came ashore in Thailand yesterday.  The government claims they are economic migrants and the Rohingya are claiming they are seeking asylum.  Economic migrants can be deported.  The UN says those seeking asylum must be protected.    Here for the story.

* This editorial in the Korea Herald started out with the usual plea for human rights for the Rohingya arriving in Thailand and Indonesia, but took an interesting angle near the end.  I’m cheering!  Other Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, should be helping the Rohingya.

The Saudi government (regardless of its poor attitude toward the anti-Israel, anti-US Palestinians) has pledged US$1 billion to rebuild Gaza. What about spending some of its God-given wealth on the Rohingyas and other poor, oppressed Muslim communities outside of Palestine?

* Refugees International, the lobbying arm of the refugee industry in the US, says Thailand cannot send them back to Burma (Myanmar) because they will be abused. RI didn’t say anything about Saudi Arabia helping—they never do.  From a Burmese Muslim website:

The Washington-based group Refugees International has warned that any Rohingya repatriated to Myanmar “is subject to arrest and abuse.”

“Until the Rohingya are recognised by Burma as citizens, neighbouring countries like Thailand must protect and assist this vulnerable population,” it said in a statement released earlier this month.

For a history of the building Rohingya resettlement campaign see our entire category on the subject here.