* Arrests
Fifty-two “border-crossers” have
been found in the Balassagyarmat region near Slovakia, including Bangladeshis,
Pakistanis, Chinese and Palestinians.
The 52 will be handed over to the Hungarian authorities, and “procedures
relating to the policing of foreigners will be launched against them.”
(Hungarian Radio (Budapest), March 1, 2001)
Greek authorities arrested 35
Iraqi Kurds who were illegally brought to an Aegean island and four smugglers.
The Kurds were taken to a hospital for examinations, where three of them were
treated for high fevers. (February 28, AFP)
British troops in Cyprus detained
26 Iraqis found at British bases territory.
Another three Iraqis were taken into custody by Cypriot police. Fifteen
Iraqis who entered Dhekelia Base last month were sentenced to two months jail
each by a British bases court for illegal entry into Cyprus. The 15 will serve
their sentences in a bases prison, after which their refugee status will be reviewed
under due process of law. (February 28, AFP)
Last year, the Polish border guard
detained 6,613 people - 10 per cent more than the year before - for illegally
crossing the state border. Together with individuals turned back by the
services of neighbouring states, there were 9,994. A further 1,500 people were
detained by the border services in neighbouring countries. (Trybuna (Warsaw,
Poland), February 28, 2001)
German police detained 21 people
believed to be “illegal immigrants” from Iraq after they had crossed the border
from Austria. (Agence France Presse,
February 20, 2001)
* Collaboration with Persecutors
China is showing a strong
commitment to tackling “illegal immigration” in its southern provinces, but an
increasing number of people are now heading to Europe from the North-East. An EU delegation was in China to hammer out
strategies to stem the flow of Chinese “sneaking” into Europe. (Reuters, March 2, 2001)
* Deaths
Two survivors of the Dover lorry
tragedy in which 58 Chinese “illegal immigrants” died spoke for the first time
of the panic that gripped the 60 people packed into the airtight container as
they began to suffocate on the fourth day of the trial of Perry Wacker, a Dutch
lorry driver charged with 58 counts of manslaughter and conspiracy to smuggle
“illegal immigrants.” (The Guardian (U.K.), March 2, 2001)
Fourteen Zimbabwean “illegal
immigrants” to Botswana died in a road accident as Botswana police were
“repatriating” them. (Reuters, March 1,
2001)
A body was found in the wheel well
of a US Airways jet at San Francisco International Airport. The unidentified man was discovered a few
minutes after landing. Stowing away in
an airliner wheel well is often fatal because as the wheels retract, the area
is enclosed, with little oxygen and warmth. (CNN, February 20, 2001)
Britain's biggest rail freight
operator may axe services from France and Italy because of the thousands of
“illegal immigrants” who stow away on its trains. The desperation of refugees was graphically illustrated earlier
this month when an Iraqi Kurd died and another broke both legs after they leapt
20ft (6m) from a bridge on to the roof of a train heading for Britain through
the tunnel. (The Independent (UK), February 21, 2001)
* Deportation
The UNHCR denied charges by the
Lebanese government that it is sanctioning the deportations of refugees and
asylum seekers. "In spite of the ongoing cooperation with the office of
the Surete Generale (security services), UNHCR has on various occasions expressed
its strong concern about the situation facing refugees and asylum seekers in
Lebanon particularly their deportation," UNHCR chief said. Lebanese
authorities denied charges made by Amnesty International that it mistreats
people entering the country “illegally,” saying it had expelled “illegal
migrants” in coordination with UNHCR. Since September 2000, more than 300
asylum seekers who had been detained for entering Lebanon illegally have been
forcibly repatriated. (February 28, AFP)
Some 77,000 “illegal immigrants”
landed on Italian coasts during the period 1999-2000, according to an Italian
parliamentary report. Last year, Italy deported 66,000 “illegal immigrants.”
(Xinhua News Agency, February 28, 2001)
Indonesia will deport 148 Afghans
who have been stranded in remote Irian Jaya province since they failed to reach
the Australian coast by boat three months ago.
Irian Jaya governor said UNHCR had offered help in the deportation of
the Afghans. (February 28, AFP)
Cyprus police intercepted a boat
carrying suspected “illegal immigrants” as part of a drive to stem a recent
flow of clandestine landings. Seven men
aged between 25 and 35 and believed to be Iraqis were onboard. The patrol boats
accompanied the boat to a distance away from Cyprus territorial waters. “No landing” policies are widespread. The
island's status as a candidate for EU membership has prompted Cyprus to act
firmly with immigrants lest it be considered a soft spot for landings for those
seeking safe passage to the continent.
Several boatloads of people, often with young children and mostly Iraqi
Kurds, have arrived in poorly maintained boats over the past few months. Many
have promptly been deported. (Reuters,
February 26, 2001)
Iran's police arrested 100
“illegal” Afghan immigrants crammed on a truck heading for Isfahan. The police department said they will be
“repatriated” after undergoing legal procedures. Three days ago, 100 other Afghans were arrested in the same
district. (IRNA news agency (Tehran,
Iran), February 25, 2001)
Canadian Immigration officials are
labouring hard to find a way to deport a Mexican woman after two airlines
refused to fly her because she is almost eight months pregnant. Her husband was deported to Mexico. (The
Toronto Sun, February 23, 2001)
* Detention
Staff at the Woomera detention
centre in Australia racially abused and intimidated detainees and treated them
like prisoners, the Commonwealth Ombudsman has found. In the second damning report on Australia's detention centres,
Oliver Winder found women and children were at risk of possible harm in
male-dominated centres. Winder
recommended alternative forms of detention for whole families, women at risk
and individuals with special needs outside the major centres. (The Age (Australia), March 2, 2001)
A Palestinian inmate at the
Maribyrnong detention centre in Australia has been kept in an isolation cell
for four months and denied access to a toilet as punishment for attempting
suicide. Since his solitary confinement,
he had become ill, experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea, but had not received
treatment. (The Age (Australia), February 26, 2001)
The situation in immigration
detention centres in Australia remained volatile, with at least five serious
disturbances and a suicide since December.
Immigration Department secretary Bill Farmer said tensions were running
high. (The Australian Associated Press, February 20, 2001)
Doctors had sought permission to
resuscitate hunger strikers at detention centres for “illegal migrants” about
20 times in the past three years, immigration department secretary Bill Farmer
said. (The Australian Associated Press,
February 20, 2001)
* Legislation / Laws
The UK Tory leadership has urged
its Parliamentary candidates to limit the use of the word
"Conservative" in their election literature and make asylum a key
campaign issue. (The Independent
(U.K.), March 2, 2001)
The European Commission said it
was considering several options in tackling eastern European immigration
following the EU's planned eastward enlargement. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, March 1, 2001)
Organised crime and “illegal
immigration” were top items as interior and justice officials from the G8 group
of leading industrialised nations met.
The French delegation was leading calls for action on “illegal immigration
and human trafficking,” joined by the British delegation. The decisions at the meeting will become a
part of the final declaration of the G8 summit of heads of government and heads
of state in Genoa on July 20-25. (Agence France Presse, February 27, 2001)
The UN refugee agency criticised
Italy for being the only country in the European Union yet to pass legislation
to provide adequate protection for asylum seekers. A bill, which would offer legal protection and assistance to
political asylum seekers entering Italy, was introduced into parliament three
years ago has repeatedly failed to pass the lower house Chamber of Deputies.
(Reuters, February 22, 2001)
An overhaul of the Immigration Act
is returning to the Canadian Commons with some concessions. It is expected to reduce appeals for serious
criminals, implement security screening of claimants, introduce penalties of up
to $1 million in fines and life in prison for those who smuggle migrants into
Canada. (The Canadian Press, February
21, 2001)
In Australia, new laws were being
drafted to crack down on illegal arrivals, with greater penalties for those
escaping detention or committing breaches of the peace. They would also give
greater powers to search detainees and visitors. The department was looking at clarifying powers to restrain
violent detainees. (The Australian Associated Press, February 20, 2001)
* Living Conditions
UN Secretary General will visit
Pakistan next month, including Afghan refugee camps near Peshawar. UNHCR said the makeshift Jalozai camp in
NWFP, where some 80,000 Afghans live, could soon become a “death camp.” More than 20 people, mostly children, had
succumbed to preventable illnesses recently.
The authorities have refused to provide a new site for the Afghans, and
have denied they are genuine refugees. A UN screening process found about 80
percent of them were genuine. (February
28, AFP)
UK local authorities that rely on
central government funding to support destitute asylum seekers were told by the
High Court today that thousands of refugees are not covered by the scheme. A judge ruled that the Home Office's
National Asylum Support Service applied only to people whose need for support
and accommodation arose "solely" from their destitution, and not to
those who were also in need because of sickness, disablement or old age. (Press Association (U.K.), February 27,
2001)
Pakistan has told some 100,000
Afghan refugees to either move to another camp nearby or go back to
Afghanistan, where drought and war have created a new exodus of refugees in
recent months. Some 170,000 Afghans
have poured into the NWFP since September, but the provincial government has
refused to find new sites for them.
(Agence France Presse, February 22, 2001)
* Membership in a Social Group
Chicago immigration officials have
granted political asylum to a 10-year-old autistic boy whose mother had claimed
his disability is so misunderstood in Pakistan that he would be tortured and
persecuted if they returned there from the US.
"His asylum was granted not on the basis of being disabled or
autistic," said director of the Chicago Office of Asylum for the U.S.
Department of Immigration and Naturalization Service. "It's the
persecution his disability itself causes. He fits the classic definition of a
refugee." (The Chicago Tribune,
February 21, 2001)
* Protests
Hundreds of Kurdish “immigrants”
held a sit down protest blocking the gate of the French holding camp where they
have been housed since their arrival two days earlier aboard a beached ship. The protest lasted three quarters of an
hour, during which time traffic was barred entering the camp. The demonstrators
returned peacefully to their quarters. According to a translator, they have
four demands.” “Firstly, the way they
are housed. It is not comfortable and it is too cold. Secondly, the food. It
was alright at first, they were very hungry, but they want something more
varied, and more hot food,” he added. They are housed in converted military
warehouses in the town of Frejus, southern France, and fed on army
rations. “Also they want medical
treatment for their children. And lastly they want the status of political
refugees, and they want the process speeded up.” (AFP, 19 February 2001)
The situation in immigration
detention centres in Australia remained volatile, with at least five serious
disturbances and a suicide since December.
Immigration Department secretary Bill Farmer said tensions were running
high. The situation in detention centres remains volatile, with a less
compliant population," Farmer said.
There had been two disturbances within 24 hours at Port Hedland in
Western Australia in January and at Curtin in WA. (The Australian Associated Press, February 20, 2001)
Doctors had sought permission to
resuscitate hunger strikers at detention centres about 20 times in the past
three years, immigration department secretary Bill Farmer said. (The Australian Associated Press, February
20, 2001)
* Racism / Fascism
Far-right offences in Germany
jumped by 59 percent last year. Authorities
registered 998 violent far-right crimes last year - a jump of 34 percent from
1999 and the highest figure since a wave of such attacks. (The Associated Press, March 2, 2001)
The Association of Chief Police
Officers in the UK published a guide aimed at promoting good community
relations between asylum seekers and host communities where racism is being
stirred by inflammatory language. The guide urges local police to establish an
early dialogue with MPs, media editors and local authorities to “reduce the
opportunity for misunderstandings or unintentional inflammatory statements.”
The deputy chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality said there was some
evidence of politicians stirring up local opposition to asylum seekers. (March
1, Financial Times)
A Greek court convicted a man who
went on a shooting spree targeting immigrants on Oct. 22, 1999 on two counts of
murder and seven counts of attempted murder for killing a Georgian and wounding
five others from Asia and Africa. He also killed an Iraqi Kurdish immigrant and
wounded two others three days earlier. (The Associated Press, February 28,
2001)
Britain's Europe minister attacked
xenophobic politicians who whip up fears about immigrants, lamenting the
"disturbing" rise of the far-right in countries like Austria. (Agence France Presse, February 28,
2001)
Polls say Italian media magnate
Silvio Berlusconi stands a good chance of winning this spring's national
elections. In Belgium, Foreign Minister Louis Michel said the European Union
should impose sanctions on Italy if Berluconi wins in alliance with the
xenophobic politician Umberto Bossi. (The Associated Press, February 28,
2001)
When an Italian woman and her
12-year-old son were murdered in the town of Novi Ligure, Italian newspapers
were quick to point the finger at immigrants.
Playing on fears of foreigners, right-wing political parties took up the
cry. Anti-immigrant rallies were scheduled. Then, police announced they had
arrested the woman' s 16-year-old daughter.
(The Associated Press, February 24, 2001)
Iran's police arrested 100
“illegal” Afghan immigrants crammed on a truck heading for Isfahan. The great number of Afghans living in Iran
is commonly cited as one of the reasons “contributing to the high rate of unemployment
and drug abuse in the country.” (IRNA news agency (Tehran, Iran), February 25,
2001)
The Austrian far-right Freedom
Party was accused of inciting racists with a series of anti-foreigner election
posters plastered all over Vienna, including "Foreigners: I understand the
concerns of the Viennese." (Agence
France Presse, February 22, 2001)
Italian police arrested 12 people
accused of belonging to a banned racist organization, Blood and Honor. In a synchronized operation, Austrian police
arrested a German citizen, in Vols, near Innsbruck, Austria. Italian law
forbids organizations that promote racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.
(The Associated Press, February 20, 2001)
Jack Straw, the UK home secretary,
will announce new powers giving statutory force to the official campaign to
tackle institutional racism in schools, hospitals, and universities and across
the whole public sector, including the police and prisons. (The Guardian (UK), February 21, 2001)
Plagued by a sharp rise in hate
crimes, Germany is forming special federal police units to counter
neo-Nazis. (The Associated Press,
February 20, 2001)
* Restrictive Measures / Militarisation of Borders
Canadian immigration is inspecting
the contents of private mail and storing the information on a computer database
as part of its battle against people “smugglers and international criminals.”
(National Post (Canada), March 2, 2001)
A high-tech scanning system to
screen all visitors to Canada has "Big Brother" overtones, warned
Immigration Minister a few days after she touted such a plan. (The Calgary Sun,
March 2, 2001)
A Canadian federal law that has
barred chronically ill or disabled people from immigrating to Canada is being
challenged in court as a violation of the Constitution by a German woman who
was refused permanent residency in Canada because she has multiple sclerosis.
(National Post (Canada), March 2, 2001)
US President Bush wants to beef up
law enforcement on the border, and split the Immigration and Naturalization
Service into two parts. (The Tucson Citizen, February 28, 2001)
Italy plans to do a feasibility
study on whether to set up a European border police modeled after a bilateral
effort under way between Germany and Italy. (Agence France Presse, February 27,
2001)
Belgium and France will sign an
agreement on cross-border border police and customs cooperation on March 5 to
concentrate the two countries' resources more effectively in the fight against
cross-border crime and “illegal immigration.”
France has already set up joint police stations with neighbouring
Germany and Spain. (Agence France Presse, February 25, 2001)
An Iranian truck driver who tried
to smuggle 81 Kurdish “illegal immigrants” into Greece in the back of his
vehicle was sentenced to nine years and five months jail for human trafficking
and ordered to pay a fine of eight million drachmas (approx 21,500 US dollars).
(Agence France Presse, February 23, 2001)
A spokesman for Eurotunnel said it
had asked the British government to send troops to the French side of the
tunnel to help keep out would-be asylum seekers. The consortium has suggested that a detachment of Gurkhas,
Nepalese troops with a reputation for toughness, should be deployed to the
tunnel entrance at Coquelle, near Calais.
A regiment of 800 Gurkhas is stationed at Folkestone, southeast England,
near to the other end of the tunnel.
However, the appeal was dismissed by British ministers, who have said it
was up to tunnel operators to make their own security arrangements. (Agence France Presse, February 22,
2001)
Britain's Immigration Minister
called on Eurotunnel to beef up security on its platforms to stem the tide of
“illegal immigrants” using the channel tunnel as an entry point into
Britain. (Reuters, February 21, 2001)
* Risky Routes
About 100 Iraqi Kurds left a
French military camp almost two weeks after their ship ran aground on the
French Riviera. The group was the last
of 910 immigrants that arrived on a cargo ship on February 17. The refugees
have gone to other temporary shelters, mostly in southern France. The immigrants endured a weeklong voyage in
the cramped hold of a freighter, hoping to slip into Europe. The crew abandoned
the vessel when it ran aground. They
were held for four days at the military camp in Frejus and were allowed to
apply for political asylum. (The Associated Press, March 2, 2001)
Most of the Kurdish immigrants
shipwrecked on the French Riviera earlier this month applied for asylum, but
about 200 appeared to have opted to melt away and continue their journeys.
Three quarters of the refugees have regularised their situation. (February 28,
AFP)
Some 300 would-be immigrants,
including at least 100 women and children, landed on the Italian coast, the
latest group to make a risky sea voyage to reach Western Europe. Most of the passengers were Kurds,
Pakistanis and Afghanis. (The Associated Press, February 27, 2001)
English, Welsh & Scottish
(EWS), Britain's biggest rail freight operator, may axe services from France
and Italy because of the thousands of “illegal immigrants” who stow away on its
trains. It said some migrants hid
inside wagons while others rode on the outside of trains, wrapped in foil to
keep them warm. Others breathed through pipes in a hopeless attempt to evade
carbon dioxide detectors used to discover people hiding inside trucks. (The
Independent (UK), February 21, 2001)
* Support
The practice of female genital
mutilation should be specifically outlawed in Ireland, according to a voluntary
organisation of development workers, Comhlamh. Its coordinator said, "The bottom line is that it's torture
and we cannot sustain any cultural norm which involved torture of children,
regardless of the sensitivities and traditions". (The Irish Times, March
1, 2001)
Skilled immigrants to Australia
will boost living standards by $5.3 billion over the next seven years,
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said.
(Dow Jones Newswires, March 1, 2001)
As the French government offers
medical benefits and shelter to 908 shipwrecked Iraqi Kurds, the immigrants are
being greeted in the streets with free food, clothing and a general outpouring
of hospitality. (February 25, AP)
According to the poll conducted by
the CSA institute in Paris, France, 78 percent of those asked were against the
Kurdish refugees being expelled from French territory. Almost 60 percent favoured their being
granted all the rights of asylum once their cases had been assessed. 20 percent said they should be sent back to
their country of origin - Iraqi Kurdistan. Lionel Jospin, the premier, was
quick to adapt to the change in the public's mood. When the refugees first appeared he said France had to be careful
"not to reward the criminal organisations dedicated to this kind of
traffic". However, the
government's tone later softened, letting the refugees apply for asylum. This
was in part simple realpolitik to avert an embarrassing challenge in the courts
by human rights lawyers. The issue of
political repression by the Iraqi regime against Kurds has been for instance
well proved. In addition, most of the boat people appear to have been
persecuted because they were members of the minority Yazdi religious sect. (The Financial Times (U.K.), February 23,
2001)