Category: Other refugees

California Congressman wants answers to killing of Iranian refugees in Iraq

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is calling for an investigation into the deaths of refugees and believes the US State Department is helping cover-up the killing of women and children.

Press Release from the Congressman:

Washington, May 26 – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, plans to hold a hearing to investigate the April 8th massacre of Iranian civilians at Camp Ashraf in Eastern Iraq and what role the U.S. State Department may have played in a cover up of the crime.

“The shooting of unarmed women and children by Iraqi troops at Camp Ashraf is not a diplomatic incident to be explained away by our State Department,” said Rohrabacher. “It is a crime against humanity. My oversight subcommittee will hold a hearing to investigate this massacre to hold accountable those responsible, including those in our own government, who may have tried to cover up what happened.”

On the morning of April 8, 2011, an Iraqi Army unit invaded Camp Ashraf in Eastern Iraq, killing 34 and injuring over 300 of the unarmed camp residents. The incident curiously took place 12 hours after a U.S. military unit left the camp. The Iraqi Government has been blocking access to the refugee camp and the U.S. State Department is also prohibiting Members of Congress from visiting the location for fear it might upset the Iraqi Government. These actions have given rise to Mr. Rohrabacher’s concerns that the US State Department may be helping Iraq cover up what appears to be an atrocity committed against unarmed, innocent people.

As of today, the State Department continues to refuse a bipartisan request by Members of Congress to travel to Camp Ashraf in June.

Camp Ashraf is home to about 3,400 Iranian exiles who have lived in Iraq since after the Iranian Revolution.

How many of you even knew this occurred last month?

Update:  I thought about this later and realized that I had written about this Camp being in jeopardy in 2009 and wondered then if Obama would be blamed if our pull-out would cause harm to the refugees, here, and sure enough Obama is not being blamed yet.   Obama-worshiping media is silent as reader Gary points out.

Obama sends money for Libyan refugees, invites rebels to set up DC office

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Obama Administration announced, according to this report from a Chinese news agency (Xinhuanet), that it is sending $50 million in aid to “partners” in the North African region to help with “refugees” and the “humanitarian crisis” created by the joyful Arab Spring democracy revolutions.   It was also announced that Obama has invited the rebels to set up an office in Washington. What is that all about?  Do they need to be close to the money pot or are they going to have rebel lobbyists crawling over Capitol Hill, or both?

From Xinhuanet:

BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) — A senior U.S. diplomat says President Barack Obama has invited the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council to open an office in Washington DC.

Speaking in the de-facto rebel capital of Benghazi, “U.S. Assistant Secretary-of-State for Near Eastern Affairs”, Jeffrey Feltman, says the invitation marked an “important milestone” in the relationship with the NTC, and that he was pleased they had accepted the offer. Several countries, including France and Italy, have recognized the NTC, while the U.S., the European Union and others have established a diplomatic presence in Benghazi. In addition, Feltman announced that the US has given more than 50-million U.S. dollars to aid the Libyan people.

He said, “We’ve given today 53.5 (m) million (U.S.) dollars to address the humanitarian crisis that stems from Gadhafi’s attack on his people. This is to international partners who are working in part inside Libya and in part with the refugees who are in Tunisia and Egypt. So, it’s addressing refugee needs outside Libya’s borders, it’s addressing the needs of the people of Misrata and others, it’s through international partners.”

I see that Obama already dipped into the ERMA funds* he has at his discretion back in March for $15 million to Libya, so there must be some new redistribution of taxpayer dollars to “partners” in North Africa in recent days.   Also, Libyan rebels traveled to Washington and London earlier this month looking for money, here, guess they hit the US taxpayer-supported lottery!

We should be happy in one regard, we aren’t airlifting the “refugees” to the US (yet!).

*Readers the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance fund is at about $100 million each year, but I cannot find anything at the moment to tell us how much Obama has already spent.

Migrants escaping “Arab Spring” in Africa piling up at Calais….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..hoping to sneak into the UK across the English Channel!   But, hey, I thought the Arab Spring was only bringing democracy and freedom to North Africa?   And where are Wade Rathke and his community organizer buddies when you need them!

From the UK Telegraph:

In a filthy squat two miles from the entrance to the Channel Tunnel, Mohammed Yosif and his friends are hoping for a new life in Britain.

The 21-year-old is one of at least 40,000 to have fled to Europe as a result of the Arab Spring that has seen political unrest sweep north Africa.

Many are migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa who now believe their lives are at risk, especially in Libya where the regime used black mercenaries to attack rebel forces.

A growing number have now arrived in France and are sleeping rough near ports in a bid to sneak into the UK or at the Gare du Nord Eurostar station in Paris.

“It is very difficult to get on the train, but I dream of England,” said Mohammed, who arrived in Calais on Tuesday after fleeing the war in Libya, where he was a migrant worker from Chad.

“Maybe I will hide, but I hope to find a way to get there somehow. England is a great country where I can have my human rights.”  [Wait! I thought that is what all the revolution in North Africa was about—freedom, democracy, and human rights—ed]

Until he can sneak onto a lorry heading for Britain, he is living with up to 400 other migrants in a squalid, chaotic encampment nicknamed ‘Africa House.’

Read it all—poor Europe, poor England.

Arab and African “refugees” killing each other in refugee camps

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Ho hum, this is another one of those diversity is strength reports.  Turns out that at a UN camp (where “refugees” are waiting to be resettled to a third country—including America! which takes the largest numbers of refugees), there are rapes and murders going on between those of Arab descent and Africans.

But, of course we all know that when they arrive in the magical American melting pot they will give up their centuries old animosities and settle down to the American dream—right!

From Christian Today (Australia):

Four Eritrean refugees were burnt to death, and one was critically injured, after their tents [tents likely paid for by American tax payers—ed] were deliberately set on fire at a Tunisian refugee camp close to the Libyan border in the early hours of Sunday 22 May.

Ibrahim Suleman Ahmed, Ahmed Mohamed Saleh, Jamie Mohamed and Saleh Ismail had recently fled Libya, and were waiting to be resettled in a safe third country by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Two Sudanese refugees have been arrested in connection with the deaths and remanded in custody.

According to reports, a few Sudanese refugees had been sexually harassing Eritrean female refugees in Shusha Camp, Ras Jedir. This generated tension in the camp as Eritrean men attempted to protect the women.

On Saturday 21 May, a Sudanese man reportedly entered a married couple’s tent and tried to rape the woman. The Eritrean men who were nearby managed to stop him, and he was later heard saying that he would kill Eritreans in the camp.

The four victims of the blaze were not involved in the dispute and were murdered simply because of their nationality.

[….]

These are not the first murders to occur in Shusha camp. Although the UNHCR office in Tunisia is aware of these incidents, there is still no security in the camp, despite demands from refugees for greater protection. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) Human Rights Concern-Eritrea (HRC-E) has been informed that the refugees in the camp are now extremely anxious following the recent murders, and the atmosphere remains very tense. Last night the Tunisian armed forces were forced to fire in the air as tensions boiled over between refugees of Arab and African descent.

Multiculturalism is so beautiful (vibrant too!), don’t you agree?

Reader JJ just pointed out in a comment this morning, here, that RRW should be renamed Somali Refugee Resettlement Watch.  This post is then a Somali-free post (SFP)!

Michigan: This food stamp fraud case involves Vietnamese

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This may be the first time I’ve seen a case where Vietnamese immigrants are running a convenience store food stamp scam.   Although that Seattle Chinese grocer a few weeks back employed Vietnamese who were scooped up in the bust with the store owner.

New readers, these are not scams involving petty food stamp fraud, like all the other cases (just had one two days ago, Indians probably) this case involves the big scam—trading cash for stamps usually at 50 cents on the dollar.  The customer gets the cash and the store owner/manager turns in the claim to the Department of Agriculture (American tax payer) for the full one dollar.  It’s a redistribution of wealth, but I must say based on the number of busts I’m seeing, the Obama Administration seems to be cracking down pretty well.  I just noted this week also that Open Borders advocates are furious that the Obama Administration for deporting illegal aliens at very high rates, here.

And, one more point, I get alerts on these cases almost daily and I think I have never seen one that involves a Smith, Jones or other traditional American name, they virtually all involve immigrant run stores.

From the Grand Rapids Press:

GRAND RAPIDS – The owners of a Marathon C-Store pleaded guilty to food-stamp fraud for redeeming government food benefits in exchange for cash and ineligible items.

Hai “Henry” Bui, and his wife, Thao Thi Trinh, entered the pleas Thursday in U.S. District Court. Earlier, his brother, Cuong Thahn “John” Bui, who worked as manager, and a nephew, Tuyen Khanh Nguyen, a clerk, pleaded guilty to charges in the scheme at 1405 Burton St. SE.

The defendants redeemed electronic food-stamp benefits and Women, Infant and Children benefits for cash and unapproved items such as cigarettes, phone cards and gasoline – at a 100 percent markup, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote in court papers.

The government has seized $260,000 from the defendants.

I wonder how much they actually stole because the seizure of money and property is usually far less than the full amount of the thievery.

Why do I write about these cases when it may not directly involve refugees (although these Vietnamese may in fact have come here in the refugee program)?  I write about these cases because no one else does, no one else links all the immigrant fraud schemes.    Oh, and beware,  just a reminder, I have seen some cases now where the seller of the food stamp benefit is also brought up on legal charges.

I’m sorry I never made a special category for ‘food stamp fraud’ here at RRW, but I had no idea when we had a case locally 3 years ago that it would be so widespread.  Just use our search function for ‘food stamp fraud’ and you will see dozens of similar cases.