International Refugee News

May 29 – June 10, 2001

* Arrests

(Agence France Presse, June 5, 2001) Seventy-three ‘illegal immigrants,’ mainly from Afghanistan, were detained at the weekend along Austria's border with Slovakia. Five Moldovans, two Russians and three Georgians were deported to Slovakia, while 59 Afghans, three Bangladeshis and one Palestinian were sent to a center for asylum seekers in Traiskirchen, near the capital Vienna.

(Agence France Presse, June 5, 2001) Police have detained some 430 illegal immigrants, mainly Kurds, in southern Italy after their arrival from Turkey. They were taken to a reception center at Isola Capo Rizzuto, authorities said. All face possible expulsion for illegally entering the country.

(The Australian Associated Press, June 4, 2001) Another boat carrying 55 people of Middle Eastern origin, was located 70 nautical miles south-west of Ashmore Islands in Australia. The fishing boat was the 48th vessel to be intercepted this year, bringing the number of ‘illegal’ arrivals to 3,700.

(Agence France Presse, June 1, 2001) Italian police intercepted more than 100 clandestine immigrants from Albania and Sri Lanka in separate clampdowns overnight in southern Italy. The immigrants were taken to a reception center. All face possible expulsion for illegally entering the country.

(The Associated Press, May 30, 2001) Port authorities intercepted a ship believed to be transporting about 200 ‘illegal immigrants’ from Turkey to Italy. In another case, police detained 44 Iraqi Kurd ‘illegal immigrants’ at the Greek-Turkish border in Alexandroupolis, after they had crossed the Evros River separating Greece and Turkey. Another 19 Iraqi and Iranian ‘illegal immigrants’ were caught while crossing the Evros River. Authorities said that in most of the cases the ‘illegal immigrants’ will be deported.

(Reuters, May 27, 2001) A rusty 20-metre fishing boat carrying 121 ‘illegal immigrants,’ nine of them children, landed on the southern Italian coast. The immigrants appeared to be Kurds from Turkey and Iraq but their port of departure had not been identified. Its occupants were taken to makeshift reception centres nearby.

(The Associated Press, May 29, 2001) Border police arrested 27 ‘illegal immigrants’ and two guides who brought them across the frontier with Bulgaria. According to police, 22 immigrants were from Iraq, two came from Iran and three were from the Ukraine. They will be charged with entering the country illegally.

* Deaths

(Agence France Presse, June 1, 2001) Spanish rescue services said they had virtually given up any hope of finding alive 15 African immigrants missing after their boat sank off the Canary Islands. Their vessel sank after a Spanish sea patrol spotted two boats of immigrants approaching Fuerteventura. The appearance of the patrol caused panic and one of the boats overturned.

(The Associated Press, May 31, 2001) Relatives gathered Wednesday night at the airport in the Gulf coast port of Veracruz city, Mexico to receive the bodies of 12 of the 14 Mexicans who died trying to cross the Arizona desert into the United States last week. On Wednesday, the Border Patrol announced it had found the bodies of two more immigrants in the desert south and west of Tucson. One of the two survivors from that group told officers that three more might be dead.

(The Australian Associated Press, May 30, 2001) The death of a man who set himself on fire outside Parliament House last month was completely avoidable, Australian Democrats immigration spokesman Andrew Bartlett said. Shahraz Kayani, 48, a refugee from Pakistan, torched himself when his disabled daughter was refused entry to Australia. He died last weekend of complications. He spent several years trying to bring his wife and three daughters to Australia but was hampered by the $750,000 potential cost to taxpayers of caring for his daughter with cerebral palsy.

(The Associated Press, May 29, 2001) The tractor buries two men in a dirt lot at the edge of the Southern California desert. A long path and tall bushes set their graves apart from the ornate headstones at the local cemetery. No relatives are present as the men are buried in less than 15 minutes on a May morning. No one knows who they are. Authorities believe they were ‘illegal immigrants’ from Mexico, two more among the hundreds who die each year while trying to cross into the United States. Unidentified immigrants are filling the Holtville pauper's cemetery, which opened in 1995, two months after a U.S. border crackdown began in San Diego that pushed migrants eastward to the deserts of Southern California and Arizona. Since then, Imperial County has buried 122 unidentified immigrants. Of the 491 immigrants who died entering the United States last year through Mexico, 114 were classified as unidentified, according to a Mexican government report.

* Deportation

(The Namibian, June 4, 2001) The Namibian Immigration Tribunal Court at Ohangwena ordered the deportation of more than 600 ‘illegal immigrants,’ most of whom were from Angola.

(Agence France Presse, June 4, 2001) Iran's Interior Minister Abdol-Vahed Mussavi-Lari ordered police to start rounding up and deporting ‘illegal foreign migrants.’ The order addressed to Iran's police chief said employers found hiring ‘illegal’ residents should be subject to "whatever legal action necessary."

(The Times (of London), May 27, 2001) The government has spent tens of thousands of pounds hiring private aircraft, including Learjets, the preferred transport for tycoons and celebrities, to deport individual asylum seekers to their home countries. In the past year alone, the Home Office has spent at least £50,000 to return three people to destinations including Ghana and Lithuania on three separate flights after their asylum claims were turned down. At least nine other asylum seekers have been flown out of Britain on private jets in the past five years. However, in one case, a Learjet carrying an Algerian national had to return from north Africa with the passenger still on board after the plane was denied landing permission in Algiers. Learjets, owned by celebrities such as the Hollywood actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Patrick Swayze, can cost up to £1,500 an hour to hire. The Home Office estimates that about 30 asylum seekers are forcibly deported each month. Most are placed on scheduled passenger flights and are accompanied by security guards.Chief executive of the Immigration Advisory Service, said: "Jack Straw is acutely aware that if the public saw some of these poor asylum seekers being dragged onto scheduled flights shouting and screaming, they could turn against government policy. That is why these people are being removed clandestinely in private jets from obscure airports."

(Agence France Presse, May 29, 2001) Japan deported a total of 51,459 foreigners in 2000 for violating immigration laws, with more than 85 percent of them found working without proper visas.

(The Korea Herald, May 29, 2001) The Labor Ministry said yesterday that foreign workers here are entitled to organize themselves and that it does not intend to interfere with the recent launch of the nation's first migrant workers' union. About 150 foreign workers, many of them overstaying their visas and facing deportation, launched Korea's first labor union chapter consisting of migrant workers. The group is under the wing of the Seoul-Kyonggi-Inchon Region Equality Trade Union (SKIRETU). The Justice Ministry said that there would be no change in the ministry's basic position to deport foreigners who are staying in the country illegally. "The primary principle is that they should be subject to deportation according to the current immigration law and we may have to send them home if their activities make them visible," an official said.

* Detention

(The Australian Associated Press, June 5, 2001) About 55 suspected ‘illegal immigrants’ were being escorted to the Ashmore islands in Australia. Customs Coastwatch has detected 48 vessels carrying 3,700 people so far this financial year. In the previous financial year, 76 boats with 4,434 people aboard were intercepted.

(The Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2001) About 3,000 asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are held in detention facilities across Australia.

(Agence France Presse, May 29, 2001) Australian police and the managers of a detention camp created a climate of hatred that caused a riot earlier this month, according to a statement signed by 150 detainees. Two weeks ago the government released a few seconds of videotape shot by a guard during a riot at the Port Hedland detention camp which showed detainees armed with makeshift clubs throwing rocks and other objects at guards, who tried to protect themselves with shields. The statement called on the government to release the full video tape, which the detainees claim shows guards employed by the Australasian Correctional Management, a private company contracted to run the camps, brutalizing detainees. ''If you want the truth, it was ACM that lit the match at Port Hedland,'' the statement said. Last weekend, some 170 police officers raided the Port Hedland camp to arrest 22 people alleged to have been ringleaders in the riot.

(The Sydney Morning Herald, May 29, 2001) A six-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother will be without their parents in Port Hedland detention centre for at least three weeks after their parents and two older brothers were remanded in custody. The family and 18 other detainees were charged with throwing rocks, concrete and food at Australasian Correctional Management guards in the recent riot at the centre. The mother was visibly upset on learning her fate, and left the court crying and calling out for her children. The father did not apply for bail and when the charge was read to him he called out: "The ACM are criminals. If you want to send us to jail, then send us to jail."

* Laws

(Agence France Presse, June 5, 2001) Thousands of ‘illegal immigrants’ besieged government offices throughout Greece, seeking to have their status legalised under a new law that requires proof of residency since at least June 2, 2000. Among those queuing were some 2,000 people who had been awaiting deportation, but who had been specially released by police so they could start the legalisation process, the public order ministry said.

(The Associated Press, May 28, 2001) European Union nations agreed to tighten their rules for fighting international gangs that smuggle immigrants -- but failed to establish common penalties for those convicted of human trafficking. The partial agreement at a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers came as part of efforts to set up a joint immigration and asylum policy. The 15 EU ministers agreed on a definition of what constitutes criminal human trafficking as opposed to humanitarian efforts to help refugees escape danger. But differences persisted over how tough to be on convicted traffickers, with ministers disagreeing over a proposal for eight-year mandatory prison sentences. Under the new definition, which still needs approval by the European Parliament, the 15 nations will adopt common standards in outlawing trafficking for financial gain, including smuggling that involves the sexual exploitation of immigrants, use of sweatshop labor and abuse of migrant children. Ministers failed to reach agreement on a common system of “temporary protection” in the event of a large influx of refugees fleeing from crisis areas. The plan aims to guarantee refugees access to housing, health and education while their asylum cases are being considered. Amnesty International and the United Nations' refugee agency fear the proposal would make it harder for refugee claimants to enter the 15-nation bloc and make it easier for EU nations to expel them.

* Living Conditions

(The Irish Times, May 30, 2001) The Irish system of Direct Provision is causing huge problems for asylum-seekers in one town outside Dublin, with most of those surveyed deeply unhappy with their accommodation and food, and almost everyone wishing to work or undertake further education, if allowed. Under the Direct Provision Scheme, introduced in April 2000, asylum-seekers are provided with full board and £15 a week "comfort" money. The report, "Meeting the Needs of Asylum Seekers in Tralee" finds that their needs are not being adequately met.

* Protests

(The Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2001) On arrival in March, 57 ‘boat people’ who caused the latest ‘riot’ in an immigration detention centre were not told by immigration officials that they could apply for refugee status, but Immigration Minister Ruddock defended that policy, saying the Government had no obligation to tell them their rights. The riot at Curtin detention centre in Western Australia began after the 57 men, women and children were told they would be sent home without being given a chance to apply to stay in the country. In the riot, involving about 150 people, fences, windows and a demountable building were damaged. Tents for detention officers were also burnt before tear gas was used to quell the uprising. Four detainees suffered minor injuries.

(The Australian Associated Press, June 4, 2001) The Australian Immigration Department denied 150 detainees had begun a hunger strike at Port Hedland detention centre over their treatment following a riot last month.

(The Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 2001) About 1,500 people including students, families, unionists and ethnic leaders - all outraged at the system of incarcerating asylum seekers - marched to the Villawood Detention Centre as part of national protests against the Government's refugee policies. About 150 metres from the protest, maintained behind barricades, refugees thronged against barbed wire fences to express support for the demonstrators. Similar demonstrations were held in Melbourne and Brisbane. About 3,000 asylum seekers and illegal immigrants are held in detention facilities across Australia.

(CNN, June 3, 2001) Thousands of protesters have joined demonstrations across Australia urging the government to close refugee detention centers. The coordinated day of rallies was organized by critics of the detention system who claim the centers represent a breach of human rights. More than 2,000 people rallied in Melbourne's city centre, while in Sydney up to 1,000 people marched to the Villawood Detention Centre. Smaller protests were held in other major cities.

(Agence France Presse, June 1, 2001) A total of 329 clandestine immigrants, mostly of Moroccan and Algerian origin, were on a hunger strike Friday in southern Spain to demand regular identity papers. The immigrants have been occupying the San Francisco church in the city of Huelva since Monday, as well as a local government office and several other premises in the town.

(The Associated Press, June 1, 2001) Rioting broke out Friday at an immigrant detention center with 200 people rampaging through the prison-like unit smashing windows and destroying fences and buildings. More than 200 asylum-seekers were involved at the Curtin Detention Center in remote northwestern Australia after some of the detainees were told their applications to stay in Australia had been rejected and they were to be deported.

(Reuters, June 1, 2001) Refugee groups intensified their campaign against Australia's mandatory detention of ‘illegal immigrants’ as cracks appeared in mainstream political support for the policy. The conservative government and opposition Labor have both backed the policy of locking up all ‘illegal’ asylum seekers, including children, in remote outback camps while their claims are investigated -- a process that can take years. But refugee groups took a half-page advertisement in The Australian national newspaper, listing hundreds of opponents of the policy -- including prominent Labor legislators and Labor-backed unions. The newspaper ad, in the form of a petition, calls for an end to mandatory detention of asylum seekers, full rights for refugees instead of temporary visas and funding for settlement.

(The Australian Associated Press, May 30, 2001) More than 30 ‘illegal immigrants’ were still on the run after escaping from detention centres across Australia, a Senate committee was told.

* Racism

(The Express (U.K.), June 5, 2001) A six-year-old boy has been reported to police for racially abusing asylum seekers. The child is believed to be the youngest person ever accused of racial harassment in Scotland. Police have already charged one eight-year-old and two nine-year-old boys in connection with the same incident.

(The Australian Associated Press, June 3, 2001) Refugees and boat people have been wrongly labelled as "queue jumpers and illegal immigrants", Australian Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett said. Senator Bartlett told several hundred people at a Brisbane protest against detention centres that the federal government was misguided because it did not take into account what the refugees faced in their country. "The Howard government has inflamed racist sentiment. "It's not about how you got here, it's about what you escaped from and what would happen to you if you returned."

(The Australian Associated Press, June 4, 2001) ‘Illegal’ arrivals should pack up and go home if they were unhappy with conditions in remote processing camps, a government backbench MP said. And in the New South Wales parliament, One Nation MP David Oldfield said rather than having sympathy for asylum seekers, most Australians believed they were ‘foreign invaders.’

(Agence France Presse, May 30, 2001) Police brutality and racist abuse, mainly against ethnic minorities and immigrants, were the most widespread human rights violations across Europe, Amnesty International said in its annual report released Wednesday. The report, which covers the period January to December 2000, raised concern for the plight of refugees and asylum-seekers. This included allegations of "ill-treatment during forcible deportations" in Belgium and Switzerland, while one asylum-seeker committed suicide in Frankfurt airport "where conditions of detention are very harsh." In France, one of the countries cited for racist ill-treatment by police, the "effective impunity granted by French courts to police officers, notably with regard to deaths in custody," was also quoted as a cause for concern.

* Repressive / Restrictive Measures

(The Daily Telegraph (U.K.), June 4, 2001) British ports are facing a sudden influx of ‘illegal immigrants’ forced to find new routes and new ways into the country. The problems facing ports on the east and south coasts are an unintended side-effect of the authorities' success in stemming the flow of human traffic on the "traditional" routes - from Calais via the cross-Channel ferries into Dover, and the Channel Tunnel. Numbers at the refugee centre near Calais have fallen by two thirds - down from 1,200 to 400 in little more than six months. There is an increasing incidence of immigrants resorting to extreme measures, such as clinging to the sides of ferries, trying to jump aboard Chunnel trains - twice with fatal results this year - and even attempting to row across the Channel.

(The Guardian (U.K.), May 31, 2001) Britain's treatment of refugees is attacked in Amnesty International's annual report. It described an "alarming shortfall" in access to legal advice to dispersed asylum seekers, many of whom had been sent to areas where the local people had no experience of living with them. Up to 1,000 asylum seekers were being held in detention at any one time, it said. Amnesty condemned what it called negative media coverage which "pandered to racial prejudice and created a hostile environment for many refugees". Amnesty spokesman Brendan Parry said: "When people think of asylum-seekers they often don't consider what these people are fleeing. There are death sentences for political reasons, torture, punishments such as floggings, stonings and amputations and severe restrictions on social freedom. To be so dismissive of them is really adding insult to injury."

(The Australian Associated Press, May 31, 2001) Convicted murderers received a fairer deal in Australia than asylum-seekers, Amnesty International said. While criminals could appeal in a court system, asylum-seekers were at the mercy of an "all powerful" department which gave them little recourse, it was claimed. The London-based human rights watchdog's 2001 annual report, released today, lashed Australia over its detention of asylum seekers, mandatory sentencing laws, ongoing deaths in custody and withdrawal from United Nations scrutiny. In its report, the organisation highlighted the case of a three-year-old boy born in Western Australia's Port Hedland detention centre who had lived there all his life. Other cases included the deportation of an Algerian asylum seeker despite a written request by the UN Committee against Torture not to do so, and the deportation of an eight-months pregnant woman who underwent a forced abortion on arrival in China.

(Reuters, May 30, 2001) Nearly 100 immigrants clashed with police when they stormed buildings in a southern Spanish town to demand working papers. The confrontation came on the same day Amnesty International issued a damning report on the country's treatment of immigrants. About 50 immigrants, mainly from South America and Morocco, threatened a hunger strike in the library at Huelva while about 40 others occupied the headquarters of the ruling Popular Party. Two people were arrested and two were injured.