Category: Other refugees

Yemeni Jewish refugees brought to U.S. in secret mission

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here’s a different kind of refugee story. The U.S. State Department has resettled about 60 Yemini Jews here since August, Miriam Jordan reports in the Wall Street Journal. The story begins:

MONSEY, N.Y. — In his new suburban American home, Shaker Yakub, a Yemeni Jew, folded a large scarf in half, wrapped it around his head and tucked in his spiraling side curls. “This is how I passed for a Muslim,” said the 59-year-old father of seven, improvising a turban that hid his black skullcap.

The ploy enabled Mr. Yakub and half a dozen members of his family to slip undetected out of their native town of Raida, Yemen, and travel to the capital 50 miles to the south. There, they met U.S. State Department officials conducting a clandestine operation to bring some of Yemen’s last remaining Jews to America to escape rising anti-Semitic violence in his country.

In all, about 60 Yemeni Jews have resettled in the U.S. since July; officials say another 100 could still come. There were an estimated 350 in Yemen before the operation began. Some of the remainder may go to Israel and some will stay behind, most in a government enclave.

An unusual story, to say the least. The Yemeni government is protecting the Jews; the persecution is from local Muslims.  The U.S. government initiated the action for geopolitical reasons.

The State Department took something of a risk in removing the Yemenis to the U.S., as it might be criticized for favoritism at a time when refugees elsewhere are clamoring for haven. The U.S. calculated the operation would serve both a humanitarian and a geopolitical purpose. In addition to rescuing a group threatened because of its religion, Washington was seeking to prevent an international embarrassment for an embattled Arab ally.

The Yemeni Jews may be the oldest Jewish community in the Arab world.

Jews are believed to have reached what is now Yemen more than 2,500 years ago as traders for King Solomon. They survived — and at times thrived — over centuries of change, including the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula.

Most Yemeni Jews went to Israel years ago. Israel airlifted 49,000 to their country in 1949 and 1950, leaving only about 2,000. And that raises the question: Why didn’t these people go to Israel, which is experienced at bringing in relatively primitive groups like this, and teaching them to thrive in a modern culture? It might be because the action was initiated by Yemeni Jews in New York.

New York had a community of about 2,000 Yemeni Jews. Yair Yaish, who heads the Yemenite Jewish Federation of America, says he was barraged with “desperate calls from the community here saying we have to do something to get our families out.”

The U.S. Ambassador to Yemen urged Yemeni ministers to facilitate the departure. After initial reluctance — the government preferred to give the Jews safe haven in the capital city — Yemen agreed to issue exit permits and passports.

“It was the embassy’s view, and the Department concurred, that because of their vulnerability, we should consider them for resettlement,” says a spokeswoman for the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

Unlike most refugees, these Yemenis have had money raised to help them.

Jewish Federations of North America raised $750,000 to help the effort. Orthodox groups also pledged to pitch in. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was tasked with their resettlement.

Maybe there’s a clue here:

In the U.S., the Yemeni refugees are being settled in Monsey, a suburban enclave of ultraorthodox Jews, lined with strip malls that sell black coats and wide-rimmed hats worn by Hasidic men.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society’s network established a Monsey office, where case managers arrange housing and disburse food stamps, cash and other refugee benefits to the Yemeni arrivals. Many of the adults, caseworkers say, aren’t yet capable of budgeting, following a schedule or sitting still in a structured classroom to learn English.

It doesn’t sound as if the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society initiated this, so it’s not for the money they receive from the government. Some ultraorthodox Jews (most? I don’t know) are not Zionists: they don’t believe in the State of Israel. Perhaps they were trying to get the Yemenis here to live in their community instead of going to Israel. This story doesn’t compute, and I’d like to find out more about it. Still, one thing about the article is quite routine: the way it ends, which is pretty much the standard kind of ending for refugee stories:

On a recent morning, Mr. Suleiman, a 36-year-old father of three, retrieved an alarm clock that he received with his furnished apartment.

“I still don’t know how to use this,” he said. “The children have been playing with it.”

Hat tip: Janet Levy.

What the heck! Tamils landing in Vancouver, BC

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update November 9th:  Ship linked to terrorist group, here.

Update October 24th:  One of the 76 has been identified as a member of the Tamil Tigers, here.

Update October 20th:  Excellent opinion piece about what this is going to cost Canada with more information about problems with Tamil immigrants in the past.

I have avoided getting into the whole Sri Lankan Tamil refugee issue, maybe just out of laziness—too weary perhaps to learn a whole new set of issues involving a new group of refugees that I wouldn’t be surprised end up in the US at some point.  It seems we can’t resist collecting more ethnic groups (see Rohingya are here).  Diversity is beautiful and all that!  Right?

But over the weekend a boatload of  illegal aliens, believed to be Tamils, have landed in Vancouver, BC so I feel compelled to no longer avoid the issue.   Before you read further, look at this map of Asia and note that Sri Lanka is on the east coast of India!  Why the heck, if they are just “asylum seekers,” did they need to come that far—there are a few places between Sri Lanka and Canada they could have landed!  And, these boats filled with all men are pretty fishy if you ask me.

From the Daily Mirror:

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Dozens of people, suspected to be Sri Lankans, who were aboard a mystery ship that was seized off Canada’s West Coast and towed into Victoria over the weekend were loaded onto buses on Sunday and ferried to the Vancouver-area for further screening.

The 76 males were found when the RCMP boarded a vessel displaying the name Ocean Lady on Friday near Port Renfrew and took control of the ship.

The Canada Border Services Agency and the RCMP have revealed little else about the group, their origin or how they ended up on a ship sailing towards Canada.

The seizure has prompted speculation the case may involve human smuggling and potential refugee claims, possibly by Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka, but border agency officials confirmed none of that.

“The individuals have been transported to . . . a corrections facility in Vancouver, where the CBSA will continue to examine their admissibility to Canada,” Rob Johnston of the Canada Border Services Agency said in a brief statement Sunday.

“We are acting quickly to meet the immediate personal and health needs of these individuals, and we are processing them in an efficient manner and in accordance with Canadian law.”

On Friday afternoon, a naval vessel approached the Ocean Lady and armed RCMP officers boarded it and took control.

A challenge to the Canadian immigration system indeed!

Perrin, a former adviser to the federal immigration minister, said it’s important that whatever happens, the fate of the group from the Ocean Lady be determined quickly rather than languish in Canada’s slow-moving immigration and refugee system.

“If our immigration and refugee system does not work to quickly offer support to legitimate refugees and deny that protection where the claims are bogus, then it’s not going to help anyone,” said Perrin.

“This case will undoubtedly test Canada’s refugee process yet again, and I expect it will be additional pressure to the federal government.”

Who are the Tamils?

Tamil Tigers are considered one of the most organized, brutal and ruthless terrorist groups in the world.    That is according to Time magazine here.   I am not saying these illegal immigrants are Tamil Tigers, it’s just that when you do a little searching around the internet that is one of the first pieces of information one discovers about the decades long effort to create a Tamil state in Sri Lanka. 

Tamils invented suicide belts and child suicide bombers—great huh!

The Tigers were defeated in May of this year by the Sri Lankan military, thus creating this exodus of Tamils.

Here is more information on the Tamils at wikipedia and a CBC article from May that sheds some light on why Canada might have been an attraction for these boatmen.

A Human Rights Watch report released in March 2006 said the Tamil Tigers were using threats and intimidation tactics to extort money from Sri Lankans living in Canada. Fundraisers, often working in pairs, knocked on the doors of Tamil families to solicit donations.

The fundraisers were quoted as saying they were “collecting for the final war against the Sri Lankan government.” The donation drive targeted Tamil families in Toronto, home to one of the largest Tamil populations outside Sri Lanka.

“Tamils unable to pay say they have been told by LTTE fundraisers to borrow the money, make a contribution on their credit card or even re-mortgage their home,” Human Rights Watch said in a news release.

In April of 2006, the Canadian government added the LTTE to its official list of terrorist organizations for its use of suicide bombers and child soldiers in the conflict. The designation made it a crime to fundraise for the group.

Why we are white refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That’s the name for a relatively new coalition (new to me anyway!) of South African whites and their friends and supporters who have responded to two of my posts in the last week.  Those posts, here and here, are about two recent cases of white South Africans seeking asylum in Canada and Ireland respectively claiming persecution in the majority black “rainbow nation.”

By the way, I have written on several occasions in the last year or so about the violent crime mostly generated by South African blacks against immigrants of any color.   These folks at Why we support Huntley’s White Refugee Status want me to understand that the persecution is not just against ‘foreigners’ but also against the longstanding white population of South Africa.

I’m linking this blog and encouraging readers to visit it from time to time to understand a phenomenon that we may see on the rise in coming years, maybe even in European countries first (after South Africa), racism by blacks against whites.   I find it incredible (laughable even) to contemplate what will happen if more and more cases of whites seeking asylum come before Leftwing judges in places like the US.   By the way, note this blog tells of a case already (about 5 years ago) of a white South African family being granted asylum in the US.

Imagine how people like Black Marxist Kamau Karl Franklin would respond if whole groups were setting themselves up to battle blacks with claims that blacks were using “racial profiling” against a white minority.

Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update:  Be sure to read the comments from Johnny Simpson, the author of the story on the IRQR, and see his comment I have highlighted here.

Homosexuals are persecuted in Muslim countries and I find it annoying that whenever someone writes about gay refugees and asylees wishing to come to the West, the connection to the intolerance of Islam is never made.

An interview with Arsham Parsi published in The Digital Journal.

Arsham Parsi, a gay Iranian activist, fled Iran for his life in 2005. He settled in Canada in 2006 and founded IRQR [Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees], an NGO that helps LGBTs flee Iran or fight their deportation back to certain death.

In early 2005, Arsham Parsi was engaged in perhaps the most hazardous profession in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Then a 24-year-old native of Shiraz, Iran’s sixth-largest city, Mr. Parsi was working secretly in the city of his birth as a gay activist promoting LGBT rights in the Islamic Republic.

Mr. Parsi says in the interview:

IRQR is working on about 250 Iranian queer asylum cases worldwide at the moment.

[….] 

Though IRQR has no paid staff, we have a great success rate. More than 70% of IRQR’s refugee clients have gained asylum status or are in the middle of the resettlement process. IRQR is currently the only progressive Iranian NGO working on behalf of the Iranian LGBT population around the world.

“Fake refugees!” Immigration fraud charges in Thai refugee camps, some claim UN workers involved

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We are resettling tens of thousands of Burmese refugees presently housed in UN run camps in Thailand.  Resettlement agencies in the US are quick to tell us that most are Karen or Chin Christians who fought in the democracy movement in Myanmar (aka Burma), but here is a story that confirms rumors we have been hearing.  Some refugees resettled in the US and elsewhere in the West are not who they claim to be.  One rumor I’ve heard from someone personally knowledgeable about the camps is that Muslims are mixing in with the Christians and moving to the head of the line.

This article apparently first published in the Irrawaddy earlier this month and republished in The Sail, tells us that rampant immigration fraud is occurring in camps.  Although the story does not mention Muslims (or Rohingya), it does tell us there are claims that UNHCR workers are involved in the fraud.

MAE SOT — Since 2005, when resettlement began, a network of brokers has evolved to assist individuals from Burma who wish to enter the refugee camps and resettle in a third country.

The black market business has helped many to escape Burma— but not always the people who fit the criteria and need resettlement the most.

Residents at the three main camps around Mae Sot, who are waiting for resettlement, blame the influx of “fake applicants” for the long delays they endure. Many claim that the “pseudo-refugees” leave the camps first, deferring the resettlement of real applicants

“I see many fake refugees coming into the camp. They pay the brokers and the camp authorities. Then they get resettled first,” said Bo Bo, a resident at Nu Po camp.

He explained how he came to the camp in a large group from Mon State where their land was stolen by Burmese government forces. As farmers, they had been stripped of their entire livelihood. So, with nothing left, they fled to the border.

“We have to wait longer because the brokers help the fake refugees into the camp and they leave first. It’s not fair on us, We remain in the camp with nothing while they continue to run their businesses, often returning to Myawaddy and Rangoon,” he said.

Is “substitution” occurring?  Do UN workers particpate in the fraud?

It has been alleged that the camp authorities are working in cahoots with the brokers and have become immersed in the corruption and fraud that has sprung up around the resettlement process. Residents claim that brokers pay the palat for their clients’ entrance to the camp, allowing people with no valid refugee claim to enter.

[….]

The issue of identity theft has been accepted by resettlement agencies, but people continue to speculate who and what has allowed this problem to occur.

“Substitution is a major problem,” explained a former UNHCR worker who wished to remain anonymous. “No one is sure who is behind it, but it’s very possible that some UNHCR staff members are involved—they have power in the camps and oversee what goes on.

“It’s hard to tackle because everyone is too scared to complain. People in the camps don’t know if they are complaining to the actual people who are involved in the corruption and are worried that everyone will find out,” she said.

[….]

The refugee and migrant worker communities in and around Mae Sot have long accused UNHCR staff of being involved in the broker network. There’s no evidence to prove it, but many say they know people who have paid staff to arrange resettlement.

Some time ago we had a comment from a refugee resettlement agency employee who said he/she had expressed surprise to learn that among the Burmese refugees his agency was resettling, some did not speak either the Karen or the Chin language and he asked his supervisors who they were.  He said the response he got was something along the lines of ‘don’t ask!’

Utah refugee murderer

And, I continue to wonder about the case in Utah (almost a year and a half ago, here) where a Burmese refugee brutally murdered a little Burmese Karen girl in his apartment complex.  I don’t know what happened with the case, but at the time someone reported to me that the murderer was known to the people in the building as someone who came to their camp and got to the head of the line for resettlement.