Fwd: [ncpeacejustice] Japanese style internments are starting -- no joke

Further evidence of the death of globalization...

Steven Sherman
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> NC Coalition for Peace and Justice Listserv
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>
> US to round up all Muslim and Arab asylum-seekers
> By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
> The Independent
> 19 March 2003
>
> The United States has ordered the detention of all political
> asylum-seekers from a long list of Arab and Muslim countries,
> infuriating immigrant advocates who say it violates international
> human rights law.
>
> The Department of Homeland Security announced the policy shift as
> part of its tightening of security in anticipation of a war with
> Iraq, codenamed Operation Liberty Shield. "Asylum applications
> from nations where al-Qa'ida, al-Qa'ida sympathisers and other
> terrorist groups are known to have operated will be detained for
> the duration of their processing period," the department said on
> Monday night. It described the initiative as temporary,
> "reasonable and prudent".
>
> Department officials told reporters the order would affect nationals
> from more than 30 countries, including Iraq and - in contrast to
> previous government orders requiring immigrants to register with the
> authorities - such US allies as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
>
> The measure was denounced by human rights groups as discriminatory
> and counter-productive. They argued that anyone who wished harm
> against the United States would not voluntarily expose themselves
> by applying for asylum. Targeting asylum-seekers, they said, was
> "irrational" and "ridiculous". In a country founded by immigrants,
> it carried unfortunate historical echoes of the mass internment of
> Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
>
> Alison Parker, head of the refugee programme for Human Rights Watch,
> said any detention order that did not consider each applicant's
> case on its merits would be a violation of international law. "Our
> concern is that anyone who is detained should have an
> individualised hearing as to whether that detention is necessary,
> conducted by an impartial
> adjudicator. Such an assessment should not be applied across the
> board to an entire nationality," she said.
>
> Asked whether the government had made provision for individual
> hearings, she added: "It sure doesn't sound like it."
>
> Ms Parker said locking up asylum-seekers for security reasons
> would send the wrong message about the nature of people fleeing
> persecution, including Iraqis fleeing from Saddam Hussein. "It's a
> sweeping generalisation of who they are and a very unfortunate one
> ... They are not terrorists, they are not security risks. They
> should be protected."
>
> Accusations of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination were
> heightened by the launch of a new police hunt for potential terror
> suspects across the United States that is focusing on mosques and
> Arab Americans, especially Iraqis.
>
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