Darfur.
What should Britain do with failed asylum seekers from Darfur?
Next week the Home Office will formally respond to calls from major British refugee organisations to change its policy which sees such people on deporting failed Darfuri asylum-seekers to Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
The Government stopped such deportations in December, but then said they'd resumed...only to announce they would stop pending a test case.
One Darfuri national WAS deported to Khartoum during the brief window of deportations. The next Darfuri due to be deported lives in Swansea. His fate could be determined by the test case. He is Abubaker Yousef Mohamad, and here he is in his living room in Swansea.
Ray Furlong went to visit him yesterday. "He's sharing the house with two other asylum-seekers, hoping that a test-case expected in September will save him from deportation. He's already fled from Darfur twice and is not relishing the prospect of trying his luck in Sudan a third time. He's a member of the Falaata tribe, which has been targetted by Janjaweed militia. He told me a moving story of butchery and escape. The government says he would be safe in Khartoum, and I'm told it has also suggested his ties to Sudan's opposition Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are not as close as he has claimed. He just says he's in fear for his life if he returns." More on the programme tonight
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The future of the three states of the Darfur Region of Sudan to the west, is not unconnected to the history of civil war between the Southern States and Khartoum.
I met one of the south's negotiators fifteen years ago, who had then been involved with setting talks in progress for two decades.
There is expected to be a referenum on the future of the South in the next few years.
It may be that, until that time, the least worst solution would be not to pass/fail asylum seekers - but rather to offer temporary asylum status to Darfuris.
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Make them "bonded citizens". Let them work at whatever needs doing for minimum wage for five years. If after that time they've proved to be useful, law-abiding people, make them full citizens, otherwise deport them regardless.
We could also do this to young ne'er-do-wells born here. ;o)
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Let them stay. They have as much right to be here as anyone has.
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All I know is your new BBCiPlayer SUCKS! The one still used by BBC World is way better, as they haven't "fixed" something that was not broken! No listening again 2 hours after the PM show today as "the audio stream is not available at this time". Never happened with the lately "old" player! By the time I might hear the show, I probably won't care. I do believe that I'll quit the bleeding daily email also, as it is bleeding useless. Cheers.
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Let us have a policy of not granting people asylum and not returning them because it is too dangerous to do so. Why is this a good policy? Because it allows lawyers to make money from the taxpayer. Money that would have kept the asylum seeker living safely in Britain for several years.
Making lawers rich is what out justice system is for. Max Moseley 60,000 GBP. Lawyers 884,000 GBP.
Now, if we shipped out out the lawyers to Darfur that would be a result.
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In general all asylum seekers should go back. When, and more importantly, how is dependant on the situation.
By definition these are "get up and go people". Providing a conduit to allow this type of person to be removed from a population, biases the remaining skills and abilities.
In fact, permanently removing the next generation of leaders and organisers, ensures that the country will always be weak and vulnerable. This is a dictators dream.
I was in an African country under threat from its neighbour, it had to impose strict punishments for attempting to leave. The people I spoke to knew that the liberal asylum laws in UK etc. would destroy them as quickly as the bombs and missiles aimed at them.
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I listened to this and recently read piece in Observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/15/immigration.familyandrelationships
I think the way these people are treated is shameful.
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Is that really all you know, Shadowmac? Well, well ...
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