April 30 – May 13, 2001
* Arrests
In the biggest ‘catch’ of its kind in nine
years, 57 ‘illegal’ immigrants including eight women, Romanian border police
apprehended 13 children and 36 men from Afghanistan, China and Sierra Leone as
they attempted to illegally cross the border into Hungary. (The Associated
Press, May 9, 2001)
British police were today questioning suspected
‘illegal’ immigrants after a yacht from Lithuania docked at an east coast
port. Nine men and four women were
found in what are described as fairly cramped conditions. "Five men were arrested for the
facilitation of ‘illegal’ entry into the UK and are in custody at Ipswich
police station. "Four women and two men were arrested for ‘illegal’ entry
into the UK and are in custody at Felixstowe." (Press Association (U.K.),
May 7, 2001)
Turkish security forces captured 55 ‘illegal’
immigrants in the eastern province of Agri as nearly 500 others detained
earlier at sea remained in custody. The
55 ‘illegals,’ all of them Iraqi nationals, were detained when police stopped a
truck on a highway in Agri and discovered them. Meanwhile nearly 500 ‘illegal’ immigrants, who were captured on a
cargo ship in the Sea of Marmara, remained in custody in the town of Gebze,
several kilometers (miles) southeast of Istanbul. Press reports said they
included nationals of Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and
Sudan. (Agence France Presse, May 6, 2001)
Five suspected ‘illegal’ immigrants - 34 males, 22
females and 12 children aged under 10 - had to be ‘rescued’ by Australian
Customs after the boat they were travelling in ran aground off Western
Australia's far north coast. (The
Australian Associated Press, May 6, 2001)
Hungarian border patrols arrested 34 border
violators and two human smugglers along the Ukrainian and Romanian borders in
Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg County (NE Hungary) over the weekend. (Hungarian News
Agency (MTI), May 4, 2001)
A boat carrying 185 ‘illegal’ immigrants from
Afghanistan on their way to Australia, as drifted ashore in Indonesia's Sumbawa
Island. (Agence France Presse, May 3,
2001)
British police and immigration officers detained
more than 20 suspected ‘illegal’ immigrants in Southampton when they stopped
vehicles. (Press Association (U.K.),
May 2, 2001)
The police chiefs of Malaysia and Thailand
resolved to step up border patrols between the two countries to stem firearms
smuggling and ‘illegal’ immigrants.
‘Illegal’ immigrants from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh were making
their way to Malaysia through Thailand. (The Associated Press, May 2,
2001)
A fishing boat carrying 23 ‘illegal’ immigrants
from Iraq has been intercepted off Cyprus and turned away. The UN refugee agency does not approve of
intercepting the boats and turning them away. The agency believes the practice
deprives possible refugees of a chance of a fair asylum hearing. (Reuters, May
1, 2001)
* Deaths
Three ‘illegal’ immigrants from Somalia died and
10 others were injured when a minibus carrying them from Bucharest to the
Hungary-Romania border crashed into a river in northwestern Romania. (Agence
France Presse, May 7, 2001)
A 27-year-old Nigerian man, held for months in a
detention centre in Switzerland after being refused asylum, died Tuesday after
a struggle with police ordered to forcibly repatriate him. Police said the man, who was not identified,
‘resisted’ attempts by the two officers to handcuff him prior to escorting him
to Zurich airport. After finally
closing the cuffs, the officers found the Nigerian was not moving or breathing.
The Nigerian had been detained in the centre since March, when he refused to
voluntarily return to Nigeria after having his asylum request turned down.
(Agence France Presse, May 1, 2001)
* Deportation
Spanish Police and coast guard agents detained
another 79 Africans as a wave of ‘illegal’ immigration to Europe's southern tip
went into a second day. The detentions
brought the total of migrants in custody this week to 248, and police had begun
deportation procedures for the group. (The Associated Press, May 9, 2001)
A Sri Lankan refugee who fled his homeland after
being hung from his thumbs, nearly suffocated, shackled and whipped by Tamil
rebels is challenging an order by Hong Kong Secretary of Security to deport
him. The 27-year-old refugee,
identified only as Prabakar, was on a transit stop between Bangkok and Manila
on January 4, 1999, when he was searched and arrested by Hong Kong immigration
officers after they found him carrying a fake Canadian passport. He was jailed for six weeks with a
recommendation he be deported back to Sri Lanka, despite his pleas he would be
persecuted. However, for the next 11
months, while Prabakar was held in Victoria Prison awaiting answers on his
requests for refugee status, the government held fast, maintaining "his
presence in Hong Kong is undesirable".
It only changed its mind, in December 1999, after the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), following three previous rejections,
granted Prabakar full refugee status and had him released. Even then, the
government insisted that Prabakar should be deported to another country for
resettlement. (Hong Kong iMail, May 8,
2001)
Iran admitted publicly for the first time
yesterday that a fresh wave of 200,000 Afghan refugees had crossed its borders
in recent months but warned the international community it could deport many if
no aid was given. Western aid workers
said Iran was already deporting several hundred a day through its Dogharoun
border crossing while others were being detained and placed in camps. Hassanali Ebrahimi, the senior Iranian
official in charge of refugees, disclosed the figure of 200,000 to the
Financial Times during a visit to the border province of Khorasan by Ruud
Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Hundreds of refugees continue
to cross the 1,000km border with Iran each week. (The Financial Times (U.K.),
May 1, 2001)
* Detention
‘Illegal’ immigrants went on strike in the Port
Hedland detention centre this week, seeking improved payment and fewer hours
working in the facility's kitchen. In
exchange for work, detainees are given coupons. The asylum seekers had been refusing to work in a bid to have
their hours reduced from 12 to eight - or get overtime after eight hours. They also wanted work for everyone in the
centre who wanted it, not just those selected by Australasian Correctional
Management (ACM). He said detainees had
gone on strike last month and were given a pay rise approximately equivalent to
$8 an hour, but had recently gone on strike again and achieved the equivalent
of $10 an hour. (The Australian
Associated Press, May 10, 2001)
A prestigious British medical journal has accused
Australia of abusing refugees by jailing them in remote detention centres like
Woomera while their applications for asylum are heard. The Lancet said Australia had spent much
time and money on recreating a climate of fear and persecution in its detention
centres which could leave refugees, many of whom had already been tortured and
abused in their home countries, permanently psychologically scarred. The
journal said psychological distress among inmates was reflected in suicide
attempts, acts of mass violence, group breakouts, rioting, the burning of
facilities, and sporadic hunger strikes - most of which have occurred at
Australian centres. (The Australian Associated Press, May 4, 2001)
All parties at the Welsh Assembly attacked the
UK Home Office policy of detaining asylum seekers in prison. (Press Association
(U.K.), May 3, 2001)
During the first four months of 2001 alone, more
‘illegal’ immigrants have been detained in Austria than during the whole of
1995. The number of detentions has
steadily increased over the past months from 1 to 29 April 871 persons were
detained. (Der Standard, Vienna (via BBC), May 1, 2001)
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser called for
a judicial inquiry into Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum
seekers. Fraser said Australia was
failing to fulfil its international obligations in its treatment of refugees.
(The Australian Associated Press, May 2, 2001)
The Irish Government's legal provisions for
asylum-seekers fell seriously short of international law on human rights, an
audit by Amnesty International Irish Section has stated. In the audit, Amnesty proposed the State
refrained from detaining asylum-seekers on grounds, which the organisation
considered did not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. (The Irish Times, May 1, 2001)
* Living Conditions
The government's policy of dispersing asylum
seekers around Britain is in "complete meltdown", with thousands
refusing to leave London or returning to the capital immediately after they
have been sent elsewhere. In the 12
months since the compulsory dispersal system was introduced, about 14,000
asylum seekers have not shown up for coaches supposed to take them to new
locations. (The Times (of London), April 29, 2001)
* Laws / Legislation
The South African home affairs department
capitulated in a Pretoria High Court challenge to its controversial asylum
policy, handing a victory to Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR). The LHR took Masetlha, Home Affairs Minister
Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the department's standing committee for refugees to
court over a circular issued by Masetlha, which ordered border authorities to
turn back or detain asylum seekers who travel to SA via safe neighbouring
countries. In the settlement agreement,
which has been made an order of the court, the department undertook to inform
border authorities within 24 hours that the circular had been
"withdrawn". The LHR claimed
the circular contravened the Refugee Act, which compels border authorities to
allow people into SA to make a formal asylum application. (Business Day (South
Africa), May 10, 2001)
The federal government will re-think immigration
laws on the grounds that the courts are too generous in dealing with
refugees. Immigration Minister Philip
Ruddock today confirmed he was looking at a package of possible changes to the
law relating to the definition of refugees, to bring it back into line with the
Refugees Convention. Ruddock has
ordered his department to draw up new laws, restricting the power of judges to
rule in favour of refugee applicants seeking to stay in Australia. Earlier this week the opposition warned that
the government plan to rein in favourable court decisions on immigration
appeals could be unconstitutional. At
the same time the Law Council of Australia said its members must be able to
operate without political interference.
(The Australian Associated Press, May 10, 2001)
Elinor Caplan, the Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, has agreed to demands from an all-party Commons committee to water
down proposed legislation that would have given sweeping powers to immigration
officers to deport permanent residents without appeal. (National Post (Canada), May 9, 2001)
A security loophole has been closed by France to
prevent ‘illegal’ immigrants using the Eurostar Channel trains. The law will allow British immigration officers
to check the passports of passengers boarding the trains in Paris, and for
French counterparts to do the same in London.
At present, passengers who board the train at Paris Gare du Nord with a
ticket to an intermediate stop near the French port of Calais do not undergo
passport checks. The law, due to take
effect this summer, aims to close a loophole that has allowed up to 400
‘illegal’ immigrants a month to enter Britain at London's Waterloo station and
claim political asylum. French approval
for the tightened checks follows agreement at a summit in February between
President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. (CNN, May 3,
2001)
A U.S. Senate subcommittee is reviewing the US’
asylum policies. The subcommittee's
interest immigrant advocates say is the latest sign that Congress and the
courts are having second thoughts about sweeping changes made five years ago to
the nation's immigration system. The
U.S. Supreme Court is considering two challenges to the legality of those changes,
which have sent thousands of non-citizens to jail. On Capitol Hill, meanwhile,
lawmakers are pushing changes to protect families from being broken up by
deportation. Another bill in the House would reduce the number of crimes
requiring deportation, reinstate judicial review for immigration cases and end
mandatory detention for people convicted of serious crimes. The sponsor is Rep.
Bob Filner, D-Calif. (The Dallas Morning News, May 3, 2001)
* Myths
Immigrant investors have put $2.5 billion into
the Canadian economy in the past five years, according to a study by the
federal immigration department. "They have contributed to the economic
development of every Canadian province and territory," says the November
2000 study by research manager Martha Justus.
"They have been responsible for the maintenance and creation of
thousands of jobs." The study says
immigrant entrepreneurs created more than 30,000 jobs in Canada between 1995
and 1998. (The Toronto Sun, May 9, 2001)
A major study of ‘illegal’ immigrants has found
that almost all of them come to Britain with the intention of finding work,
contrary to the popular image of new arrivals in search of generous
benefits. Asylum seekers, who are
registered on arrival, are largely prevented from working. (The Observer
(U.K.), April 29, 2001)
* Numbers
The numbers of Afghan asylum-seekers spreading
out beyond the neighbouring countries, Pakistan and Iran, has climbed
dramatically, especially over the past four years as conditions inside
Afghanistan have continued to deteriorate. In all, during 2000, Afghans applied
for asylum in, at least, 68 countries across the world. Europe, in particular,
has seen a very steep increase in numbers with the arrival rate almost doubling
in the past two years. (Pakistan Press International, May 9, 2001)
* Racism
Forty per cent of people would be reluctant to
welcome travelers, asylum seekers or members of ethnic minorities as
neighbours, according to a survey published by Amnesty International to
coincide with a new campaign against racism.
Almost half of those questioned said that people should be prosecuted
for racial abuse, and three-quarters agreed the Government had a responsibility
to educate the public about racism. (The Irish Times, May 11, 2001)
Laurence Robertson, the British MP for
Tewkesbury who had promised that he
would not repeat his controversial views on race, reiterated his warning that
Britain is a "crowded island" which is "struggling to come to
terms with mass immigration." His
remarks, less than 24 hours after he signed an anti-racism pledge drawn up by
the Tory whips, came in an article for the Gloucestershire Echo. (The Guardian
(U.K.), May 4, 2001)
Immigration officers have been given permission
by the UK Home Office to "discriminate" against a named list of
ethnic groups, namely Tamils, Kurds, Pontic Greeks, Roma, Somalis, Albanians,
Afghans and ethnic Chinese. Home Office officials were at pains to say the move
was not a matter of "race" but of "nationality" and "ethnic
origin". The decision was taken as
a result of last month's extension of race relations laws to cover immigration
officials. A Home Office spokeswoman said: "It was recognised that it was
necessary to discriminate on the grounds of nationality or ethnic origin. The
alternative is to subject all passengers of every nationality to the same
degree of examination at immigration control, which would lead to significant
delays and inconvenience." The
list of targeted groups will be reviewed every month and based on
"specific intelligence" or "statistical evidence". (The
Independent (U.K.), May 4, 2001)
Scotland's largest council is to launch a
propaganda drive on behalf of asylum seekers after an incident left two
Palestinian refugees hospitalised.
Glasgow City Council plans to distribute several thousand newsletters to
residents in the Sighthill area to "sell" them the idea of asylum
seekers and improve their public image. (The Scotsman, May 2, 2001)
* Protests
The Seoul Kyonggi Inchon Region Equality Trade
Union (SKIRETU), a local trade union in Korea is pushing to form a union for
migrant workers to pave the way for undocumented laborers to stand up for their
rights in the workplace even though the current law bans foreigners from
forming a union. So far, more than 100
foreigners, mainly undocumented workers and industrial trainees, have joined
the union. (The Korea Times, May 11, 2001)
* Repressive / Restrictive Measures
Seven people have been convicted in The
Netherlands for trafficking ‘‘illegal’’ Chinese immigrants. Two other defendants were found not guilty.
They were all arrested after 58 immigrants were found dead in a truck at Dover,
England. Two defendants received nine
-year sentences and were fined 97,000 guilders ($38,000). The others received
sentences ranging from 30 months to seven years. (CNN, May 11, 2001)
Future immigrants hoping
to remain in Germany would be obliged to take compulsory language and culture
lessons, and even pass tests, if the opposition Christian Democrats CDU and
their Bavarian sister party, Christian Socialist Union, come to power after
elections next year. (The Financial Times (U.K.), May 11, 2001)
Indonesia
and Australia have agreed to increase cooperation in the battled against groups
that organise the traffic of ‘‘illegal’’ immigrants to the country. The Indonesian police had already helped to
curb the flow of to Australia. (Asia Pulse, May 11, 2001)
A boat carrying 136 suspected ‘‘illegal’’
immigrants has been intercepted off Christmas Island, bringing the number of
‘boat people’ to arrive in Australian waters this year to more than 1800. The 131 passengers - all male and of Middle
Eastern origin - and five crew were detected off Australia's north-west coast. An Immigration Department spokeswoman said
they would be taken to the mainland for questioning and customs and quarantine
checks. Last year there were 1128 arrivals between January and the end of
May. Immigration Minister Philip
Ruddock said that cooperation from Middle East countries and Indonesia had
reduced the flow of ‘boat people.’ (The Age (Australia), May 11, 2001)
The Garda National Immigration Bureau is to be
expanded significantly in an attempt to combat trafficking in Ireland. The bureau has direct responsibility for
immigration duties at Dublin Airport and indirect responsibility for more than
200 gardaí with immigration duties at other points of entry to the State. It also carries out deportations and
provides a registration service for non-nationals. It has liaison officers in
London and Paris. (The Irish Times, Thursday, May 10, 2001)
Pakistan is not going to grant refugee status to
some 150,000 Afghans who illegally crossed into Pakistan from last autumn,
fleeting from drought and a civil war.
The Pakistani federal authorities refused to make concessions to the
United Nations in matters of opening the border to all refugees, their
registration and temporary accommodation in special camps in Pakistan's
territory. Islamabad believes that most Afghans who have no required documents
on them are migrants for economic reasons. (Itar-Tass, May 10, 2001)
Airline passengers will be met by immigration
hit squads the moment the plane doors open and asked for their papers as part
of an "in your face" asylum strategy to be implemented by a new
Conservative government. Ann
Widdecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, is determined to make an issue of her
plans to strengthen Tory asylum policy and has made clear that she will not be
knocked off course by the race row, which has damaged others in the party. (The London Times (U.K.), May 7, 2001)
A Welsh Assembly member has called for an
inquiry following claims that a group of asylum seekers were handcuffed after
being taken to a Welsh hospital for TB tests. (British Broadcasting
Corporation, May 4, 2001)
Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan argued that
Canada would be flooded with fraudulent passports and false identity documents
if customs officials were stripped of their power to open mail from
abroad. Vigorously defending a practice
that has been denounced as an invasion of privacy, Caplan said the law
empowering customs agents to open mail and pass any suspect documents to the
Immigration Department has resulted in the seizure of 4,000 pieces of
fraudulent documents since 1995. (The Calgary Herald, May 1, 2001)
In "Ireland: An Audit of Human Rights
Compliance 2000", compiled by the Amnesty International Irish section, the
state was found to have fallen short on meeting a number of international
treaties covering freedom from ill-treatment and the right to a fair
trial. Its legal provisions for asylum
seekers also fall seriously short of international law. (Press Association
(U.K.), April 30, 2001