A refugee of a different sort, fugitive from US justice

I just came across this story and although it is off topic from what we usually write about, I thought it might interest readers.   A man accused of killing his wife in Denver in 2002, escaped to Argentina where he has been granted “refugee” status claiming the US was persecuting him.    I sure hope fugitives from justice (murder suspects and so forth) in other countries are not showing up here and asking for asylum.

From the Denver Post:

A man wanted in Denver on suspicion of killing his wife in 2002 has become a celebrity in Argentina for his anti-U.S. conspiracy theories, making it increasingly unlikely that he will ever stand trial here for murder.

Kurt Sonnenfeld’s allegations of persecution by U.S. officials have earned him refugee status and the sympathy of a Nobel Peace Prize winner and have made him a popular news figure in Argentina, where he recently published a book called “El Perseguido,” or the hunted.

There is lots more, read on.  The twist is that this guy is a 9/11 truther.

African asylum seekers reaching South America, hope to get to the US

This is a Reuters story published in the New York Times yesterday about the increase in numbers of African asylum seekers getting into South American countries.  Some settle into black Muslim communities there, others try to come across land through Mexico to the US.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Stowed away on cargo ships and unsure where their dangerous journeys will take them, increasing numbers of African immigrants are arriving in Latin America as European countries tighten border controls.

Some head to Mexico and Guatemala as a stepping stone to the United States, others land in the ports of Argentina and Brazil. Though many arrive in Latin America by chance, once in the region they find governments that are more welcoming than in Europe.

“One night I went to the seaport. I was thinking I was going to Europe. Later I found out I was in Argentina,” said Sierra Leone immigrant Ibrahim Abdoul Rahman, a former child soldier who said he escaped his country’s civil war by sneaking onto a cargo ship for a 35-day voyage.

In Brazil, Africans are now the largest refugee group, representing 65 percent of all asylum seekers, according to the Brazil’s national committee for refugees.

There are now more than 3,000 African immigrants living in Argentina, up from just a few dozen eight years ago. The number of asylum seekers each year has risen abruptly, to about 1,000 a year, and a third of them are African.

South America is more “welcoming” than Europe now. 

Many eventually settle here, marry, or become Argentine citizens. Some Africans who have arrived legally have managed to work as musicians and a few others play professional soccer for local clubs. The majority earn a living selling jewelry on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Abdoul Rahman met his Argentine wife when he sold her a ring five years ago. He sends money to his mother and seven sisters in Africa and stays close to his Muslim religion at Buenos Aires’ Alberdi mosque.

There Rahman meets dozens of other Africans for Friday prayers. Although some of those interviewed said they faced racism in Argentina, they agreed that it was minor compared to the xenophobia and anti-immigration laws that African migrants face in Europe.

Coming to the US if they can.

More and more immigrants from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia are also making their way to Mexico and Central America via cargo ships, hoping to eventually reach the United States over land.

The number of Africans passing through the detention center in Tapachula, a city near Mexico’s southern border, was more than 600 last year, three times as many as in 2007.

Here is a post I wrote almost a year ago about Somalis detained at the Mexican border and how American immigration lawyers are jumping to help them get asylum,

Gotta stop those Muslims from trying to get across the border!

What country has had it with Muslims sneaking across their borders—no not Norway, the UK, or Canada.  Of course not!  It’s Saudi Arabia that is now bombing a buffer zone along its border to stop those riff-raff Shiite Muslims from coming into their superior and wealthy Sunni Muslim nation.   What was it that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said about beautiful and historic Muslim charity?  From the Associated Press via the Chicago Tribune:

SAN’A, Yemen (AP) — Saudi Arabia is trying to set up a buffer zone inside Yemen after its week-long offensive against the Yemeni Shiite insurgents along the border, a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.

Mohammed Abdel Salam said Saudi warplanes and artillery have been shelling deep into border areas to create the zone and drive the rebels away.

“Their goal seems to be establishing a buffer zone or a no man’s land on the border,” he said in a telephone interview from the rebels’ strongholds in Yemen’s northern Saada province. “It is obvious, they are trying to scare us and make us leave the area.”

Saudi Arabia launched an air and ground offensive against the Yemeni rebels last week after skirmishes along the border. Both Saudi Arabia and Yemen have accused Shiite Iran of backing the rebels raising concerns of another proxy war in the Middle East between region’s Shiite and Sunni powers.

[.....]

Fighting has intensified since August, displacing tens of thousands of people and limited their access to humanitarian aid.

According to the U.N.’s refugee agency, some 175,000 people have been displaced since the fighting began.

We will just keep coming because we are in search of a better life.

Abdel Salam, the rebel spokesman, also predicted the buffer zone won’t prevent infiltrators from Yemen — the most impoverished Mideast nation — from crossing into Saudi Arabia. He suggested many of those who cross are destitute Yemenis in search of a better life on the other side of the boundary.

“Poor Yemenis will keep crossing,” Abdel Salam said.

The Saudis have also been building a state-of-art border fence, here.  And, it’s not just Shiites they are persecuting, check out this post from last month where we learned that Rohingya Muslim refugees are languishing in Saudi jails, here.   Where is the world-wide condemnation of Saudi Arabia, heck, where is Obama’s condemnation of them?

Vancouver Update: Ship tied to terrorist Tamil Tigers

The Sri Lankan ship that landed in British Columbia three weeks ago (here) has been tied to the Tamil Tigers.  The Canadian government says it will deport all those on board who are found to be connected to the terrorist group. 

From AFP:

VANCOUVER, Canada — Several of a group of 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers picked up off the Canadian coast last month have ties to the Tamil Tiger rebels and could pose a security risk, officials said Tuesday.

The Canadian government told an immigration hearing that the “Ocean Lady” freighter used to transport the migrants has been linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), panel spokeswoman Paula Faber told AFP.

The vessel had “possibly been used for arms shipments” and the men should continue to be detained “on national security grounds,” government officials told the hearing, according to Faber.

Tests showed two of the men detained had explosive residue on their clothes, the officials said.

Similar ships with would-be asylum seekers have arrived in Australian waters, see our category on Australia for those stories.

Going bonkers in Britain over genetic testing of asylum seekers

From the Associated Press:

LONDON — Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups.

The United Kingdom Border Agency launched the pilot project in September amid suspicions there might be a large number of asylum applicants lying about their home countries. An agency spokesman said Britain was the only country using genetic tests in this way.

Experts, however, say the tests are based on flawed science and there’s no way genetic swabs can provide meaningful evidence regarding nationality.

[....]

The government argues such tests can provide valuable – although not conclusive – evidence in assessing whether or not asylum seekers are telling the truth about their country of origin.

So far, the tests are being used only on people who claim to be from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, though if successful, officials say the plan could be rolled out further.

Of course they want to find out if the African is from a country where they might be persecuted and in danger or not. 

Last year, nearly 26,000 people applied in Britain; of the more than 19,000 cases where decisions were made, 3,725, or 19 percent, were granted asylum. People from more repressive or chaotic countries, like Sudan or Somalia, often have a better chance of gaining asylum than those from more stable countries like Kenya.

Definitely read the whole story.  It also tells us that there is other testing that may be done and how the tests can be used to track terrorists.

Besides genetic tests, British officials are also performing isotope analysis of asylum seekers’ hair and nail samples. Scientists can look at the composition of certain elements like oxygen or strontium in hair and nails to see where a person has been.

How is this for a brilliant move?  NOT!

In a landmark decision, the European Court of Human Rights recently ordered Britain to destroy nearly 1 million DNA samples and fingerprints on its database – samples taken from children, people who had never been charged or people acquitted of crimes.

This is the most interesting section of the AP story.  Our very own Secretary of Homeland Security hasn’t given any of this any thought!   Doesn’t she know that the State Department suspended all family reunification  from Africa after discovering widespread fraud through DNA testing more than a year ago and that they are in the process of revising the whole program?  Most of us are expecting that DNA testing WILL BE EMPLOYED for at least family reunfication when the so-called P-3 program is reopened.  Napolitano acts like she doesn’t know about all this!

Concerned about potential fraud, the Bush administration launched a pilot DNA testing project in 2007 to vet applicants to a program that allows family members of African refugees already in the United States to join them.

The project, which wrapped up in March 2008, found an extremely high rate of fraud – 87 percent – among applicants claiming to be related to each other, the State Department said, and the resettlement program was suspended until those concerns could be addressed. The U.S. does not use genetic tests to try to prove nationality.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in London on Thursday that the U.S. has other ways of probing a person’s country of origin, such as testing language skills.

“I haven’t thought about it,” she said of the British attempt to match DNA to nationality. “We have a variety of ways we can use when we think someone is not telling the truth.”

Oh, and what might those be?

Sri Lankan official warns Australia not to let Tamils in

Update November 5th:  If you object to letting in the boat people you are “xenophobic” so says Australian immigration activist Julian Burnside, here.

The headline to this story is all about a fear that the Australian government might put “chillis” in the food of illegal aliens (aka asylum seekers) occupying an Australian ship in a standoff now 3 weeks old.   Titled, ”Chilli weapon ruled out in asylum seeker boat standoff,”  I thought the story should more appropriately be titled as I have it above.   Incidentally I came across this story after reporting on the “boat people” that Indonesia is sick of,  here.

CHILLIS and water rationing will not be used to force 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers off an Australian Customs ship stuck in a standoff in Indonesia.

Officials denied they would tamper with the asylum seekers’ food to help break their resolve, despite claims by refugee advocates the chilli solution had been used before.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia was prepared to play a waiting game as the saga entered its 12th day.

The Oceanic Viking remains anchored 10 nautical miles off Indonesia’s Bintan Island as the Federal Government attempts to navigate around a diplomatic stumble that saw local officials refusing to allow the Sri Lankans to land, and a vow by the asylum seekers to remain on the ship.

Many have started a hunger strike.

Mr Rudd has not ruled out using force to get them off the ship, but suggested the patience of Indonesia and Australia would win out.

“Indonesia has an abundance of patience in handling these matters. Australia also has great patience in handling these complex matters,” he told Parliament.

Mr Rudd also ruled out cash incentives to persuade the Sri Lankans to end their protest and disembark.

In my view the above is your typical leftwing reporting.  The charge that the government would fool with the food of the illegal aliens puts the government on the defensive right off the bat making the illegals more sympathetic characters.  In the meantime, the part of this story that should have been highlighted is that a high level Sri Lankan official is telling the Australian government not to set a precedent, let these Tamils in and possibly open a floodgate to more.  He also says they pose a threat to Australia.   The UK and the US have both designated the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group, although it isn’t clear from this report whether it has been confirmed that Tamil Tigers are on board.

With no end in sight to the standoff, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia warned the group represented a security threat.

“They pose a threat to peace and security of Australia,” Mr Senaka Walgampaya said.

There are more than 250,000 people in camps in Sri Lanka as a result of a 20-year civil war that ended this year.

Mr Walgampaya rejects claims Tamils in Sri Lanka are being persecuted.

I first mentioned this story here, but I had no idea this has been going on for 3 weeks.

Wasn’t it only a few days ago that I reported that the EU wanted to emulate Australian immigration policies and practices, here.

‘Progressives’ badger Japan on the Rohingya issue

Poor Japan, one of the few countries* left in the world that wants to maintain its unique culture and strictly control immigration and its borders, is now constantly under attack by groups supposedly motivated by pure humanitarian concerns.   I say supposed because I believe these are really far left ‘progressives’  and elitists who ultimately seek a borderless world.   Here is the latest assault, posted on the Rohingya Info Corner:

(Tokyo) – Japan’s new administration should protect Burmese Rohingya asylum seekers in Japan and press Burma to end abuses against the minority group, eight Japanese and international organizations said today. The groups sent a joint letter to the newly inaugurated justice minister, Keiko Chiba, and foreign minister, Katsuya Okada.

“Tokyo’s silence sends a message to Burma’s generals that their horrendous persecution of the Rohingya can continue,” said Kanae Doi, Tokyo director at Human Rights Watch. “Japan’s new government should urgently review its policies to protect the Rohingya both in Japan and in Burma.”

Apparently there are 110 Rohingya asylum seekers in Japan wanting refugee status.  This letter says they arrived in Japan by air.  Now, how on earth did abjectly poor Rohingya Muslims get the airfare money to get to Japan?  And, don’t you just love the phrase “made their way!”  Could this have been a set-up?   I don’t doubt that for a minute.

The organizations urged Chiba to rescind deportation orders that would return asylum seekers to Burma and to grant Special Residential Permits to Rohingya in Japan. Over the past decade, more than 110 Rohingya have made their way to Japan, mainly by air, and petitioned the Japanese government for asylum. While there have been no reports of forcible repatriation of Rohingya asylum seekers to Burma, many Rohingya in Japan have been denied refugee status, detained, and issued deportation orders.

Here are the ‘progressive’ groups planning action in Tokyo today:

The letter was signed by Amnesty International Japan, Arakan Rohingya Organization-Japan (JARO), and the Lawyers’ Group for Burmese Refugee Applicants, the Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan, the Christian Coalition for Refugee and Migrant Workers (CCRMW), the People’s Forum on Burma, BurmaInfo, and Human Rights Watch.

[....]

The eight organizations will hold a public event today in Tokyo around the report and the treatment of Rohingya asylum seekers in Japan.

Progressives use buzz words like ’social justice’ which we are learning is code for far left political organizing.  I wanted to find out more about this group Christian Coalition for Refugee and Migrant Workers (CCRMW) and couldn’t find much except a tiny mention of them as a ‘progressive’ Christian group.  I then did come across the wikipedia definition of  Progressive Christianity which I found interesting, and I believe you will too when you think about the ranting of Obama’s Marxist pastor, Rev. Wright.  Liberation theology, according to this article, is one of the streams of religious thought that led to Progressive Christianity.

If you would like to see more posts on how Japan is being badgered, just use our search function for ‘Japan.’

* I reported yesterday that France is now belatedly trying to recover its French culture after being swamped by immigrant Muslim cultures for decades.

Indonesia: We’ve had it with all these asylum seekers

The Indonesian government is making it very clear they cannot afford to keep all the illegal aliens (aka asylum seekers) landing on their shores or being apprehended in their waters.   They want the UN and Australia to do something about it. 

Meanwhile, remember all those Muslim Rohingya boatmen that brought worldwide attention when the Thai government was accused of towing their boats back to sea, those who landed in Indonesia have been given refugee status by the UNHCR and are ready for resettlement in the West.

From the Jakarta Post:

The government said Thursday it would demand a time line of how long the 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers, on board an Australian vessel in Riau province, would stay in Indonesia once their statuses have been finalized.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Indonesia could not afford to let the boat people, who wish to go to Australia, stay in its territory for an indefinite period of time, as has been the case in the past.

“What would we do to them if they are not classified as refugees? And what would we do if they are? This has to be clear.”

Indonesia is struggling to cope with the rising number of illegal immigrants intercepted in its waters while making the perilous journey to its more prosperous southern neighbor.

The 78 Sri Lankans are only one group of people currently seeking asylum in Australia.

Another 255 Sri Lankans are refusing to get off a wooden boat at Merak Port, Banten, and their status remains unclear.

Reports in Australia have cited 66 incidents of interception in Indonesian waters this year, resulting in arrests of 1,642 illegal immigrants bound for Australia.

Many have become stateless, living in immigration detention facilities or shelters run by the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar who were found adrift off the coast of Aceh early this year were granted refugee status by the UNHCR, but have not yet been sent to any third countries willing to accept them. Dozens have reportedly escaped from their facilities.

Sounds like a few have other motives than a chance at a good life in the West.

By the way, Indonesia is a Muslim country.  I thought the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told us that Muslims welcome the stranger!

Got guts? France certainly does as it launches national pride campaign

To combat Islamic fundamentalism, the French government has announced a campaign to remind citizens that they are French!  I love it!  When are we going to be as gutsy as the French?    From the Mail  thanks to Islam in Action:

France is to adopt a series of measures to ‘reaffirm pride’ in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism.

They include everybody receiving lessons in the nation’s Christian history and children singing the national anthem.

Using words which infuriated ethnic minority groups and Socialist opponents, immigration minister Eric Besson also said he wanted ‘foreigners to speak better French’.

He called for all recent arrivals to be monitored by ‘Republican godfathers’, charged with helping immigrants to integrate better.

His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where ‘citizenship education’ centres on multicultural diversity.

M Besson, who was born in the former French protectorate of Morocco, suggested a debate on national identity’ entitled ‘What does it mean to be French?’

He also reignited the debate about face and body-covering Muslim veils, saying they should definitely be banned.

As well as providing civic lessons for adults – including classes about the country’s Christian history and liberal political institutions – the government will encourage school children to sing the national anthem at least once a year.

They are deporting Muslims too!

Mr Besson defended a decision to send illegal Afghan immigrants – all of them Muslim – back to Kabul on charter flights organised in conjunction with the British government last week, saying there would be many more.

More than 21,000 people have been deported from France this year – with 27,000 the ultimate target, said Mr Besson.

LOL! Europe wishes to emulate Australian immigration policy

Oh my gosh, where has this author been?  Hasn’t he (or those European leaders) been reading the Australian press lately about all the controversy over immigration policy, Muslims, terrorist arrests, boat people and so forth downunder.   Dear Mr. Becks, just check out our Australia category here.

According to European polls and many EU officials, the issue of uncontrolled Muslim immigration into Europe has been a policy maker’s disaster. It is a controversial if patriotic standpoint but one which could benefit from the study of how Australia handles the question.

Australia is held in high regard by many European lawmakers for the apparent success and sustainability of its immigration policy.

The most admired principles are those that see Australia effectively select its immigrants, based on family and government cohesion, skill levels and that there is, in general, public support for the policy.

Australia has had well documented instances of ‘boat people’ arriving from Asia but the numbers are miniscule when compared to the migrant levels seen across Europe. Australia has maintained a consistent approach to protecting its borders which is something which most European countries aspire to but ongoing conflict about a common policy agreement has made the task all the more difficult. Muslim immigration continues to polarise public opinion in most European theatres.

Read on.

Australia might not be as bad as Europe yet, but someone is in dreamland if they think Australia has a solution to the Muslim immigration problem!