MetaFilter posts tagged with asylum

"We Don't Want You Here"

HP LaserJet P10006 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:44:38 -0800

The number of refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan seeking asylum in Europe continues to grow. Recently, despite criticism from the UN, deportations have begun. Most of those on a recent flight to Iraq were forced to return to the UK (the nationalities of some remains unclear, as does their fate). Furthermore, the move to deport has meant denying that Iraq and Afghanistan are each in a state of war.

UK Asylum Seekers: Let The Right Ones In

filthy light thief — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:54:02 -0800

The Home Office, the UK government department responsible for immigration control, has initiated a program to test the DNA from of potential asylum seekers in an attempt to confirm their true nationalities. The initial program is a six-month pilot limited to claimants arriving from the Horn of Africa. The program, currently using forensic samples provided on a voluntary basis, could potentially expand to other nationalities if successful. The Home Office spokeswoman said ancestral DNA testing would not be used alone but would be combined with language analysis, investigative interviewing techniques and other recognized forensic disciplines, but many are decrying the "deeply flawed" program, from refugee support groups to scientists in the genetic forensics fields (via). Sandy Buchan, of Refugee Action:

Many of those who seek asylum are two or even three generations removed from the country of origin of their parents and grandparents, and are fleeing areas other than the nation of their birth. A Zimbabwean farmer fleeing persecution may possess the DNA of British relatives; would they be denied asylum on that basis?

Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester, who pioneered human DNA fingerprinting:

The Borders Agency is clearly making huge and unwarranted assumptions about population structure in Africa; the extensive research needed to determine population structure and the ability or otherwise of DNA to pinpoint ethnic origin in this region simply has not been done. Even if it did work (which I doubt), assigning a person to a population does not establish nationality - people move! The whole proposal is naive and scientifically flawed.

See also: Science Insider follow-up post and further reactions from experts in genetic forensic analysis.

What's in yer lunchbox?

hypersloth — Sat, 24 May 2008 09:22:49 -0800

Asylum Street Spankers , revisited...

Humane decision by UK government on Iranian refugee.

dash_slot- — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:43:21 -0800

Mehdi Kazemi is granted asylum in the UK. Mehdi, now 20, was studying in the UK when Parham (his boyfriend) was arrested for the crime of homosexuality by the Iranian government. Mehdi was named by his boyfriend and warned he was liable to arrest on his planned return. The UK Home Office denied him asylum [despite a thoughtful campaign by human rights campaigners] - because it was said he had overstayed his student visa and was therefore not seen as genuinely seeking asylum. So he escaped to the Netherlands. That's where it gets complicated. Under EU asylum rules, generally someone seeking asylum is required to apply in the member state first entered. That meant, Dutch judges ruled, that he had to return to the UK - and the risk of being deported to the place where he was at risk of losing his life. Mehdi's case has attracted international attention. Mehdi was informed that Parham, his boyfriend, was executed in Iran in 2006.

A forgotten gem of the rust belt

pieisexactlythree — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:38:12 -0800

The Buffalo State Hospital is a vast complex of moldering Victorian buildings, sitting right in the middle of a residential neighborhood of Buffalo. It is also an architectural gem, not only by Buffalo standards, but for the nation as a whole. It is one of the largest and most complex commissions of New England architect H. H. Richardson, who is known for promulgating his unique, heavy looking stone Romanesque variant of the then dominant Queen Anne style. The Buffalo asylum’s grounds were planned by landscape architect (and designer of Central Park) Fredrick Law Olmsted. On a side note, Olmstead later died in another asylum which he had landscaped! Like many Victorian mental institutions, it is vacant, and has fallen into disrepair. Despite the grim image these buildings hold on the modern imagination, the Buffalo state hospital and many like it represented a significant advance in the care of the mentally ill. The buildings’ linear arrangement is an excellent example of the Kirkbride Plan for mental asylums. The narrow buildings allowed maximum light and air. Their linear arrangement allowed the patient to progress from one end of the building towards the administrative center, as he or she became more ready for discharge from the hospital. After decades of neglect, the building appeared doomed, until a lawsuit by a local preservation group forced the state to honor its commitment to preserve and reuse historic structures, to the tune of approximately $70M. The Richardson Center Corporation was formed to oversee the restoration and re-use. In May 2007 the RCC invited a panel from the Urban Land Institute to undertake a study to determine a potential use for the site. Their preliminary recommendations [PDF] envision it as the crown jewel in Buffalo’s wealth of historic buildings, housing a history center classrooms, and businesses. The Richardson-Olmsted center would be a hub for architectural tourism.

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic

ClaudiaCenter — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:31:06 -0800

The Lives They Left Behind. Previously on MeFi, the Village Voice article. Related are efforts to restore cemeteries located on the grounds of old "insane asylums," creating memorials See information from Washington, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Georgia.

Vanity Fair

Skeptic — Mon, 15 May 2006 11:47:38 -0800

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (née Magan) has already been mentioned in several times in Metafilter. Whether you consider her a couragous campaigner for women's rights and against Islamofascism, or a crass opportunist, there's no denying that she's some character. However, it now seems that her Becky-Sharp-ish rise to fame and power also left a similar trail of embittered ex-friends and lies that has ended up landing her in serious trouble with fellow right-winger (also previously mentioned in Metafilter) Rita Verdonk, Dutch Immigration Minister. Before feeling too sorry for Ayaan, consider that she's moving to Washington DC, where she's landed a job at the American Enterprise Institute. I'm sure she'll fit right in...

This country's full of wankers dressed in sheets, asylum f***ing seekers in our streets

tobyslater — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 10:17:57 -0800

Jihad, terrorism and asylum - in rhyme and iambic pentameter (small QT movie, some profanity) A Middle-Eastern chef and a xenophobic Northern English cook argue about war, bombs and asylum seekers - in the kind of flowing verse one might expect from Shakespeare. It's from British indie director Sally Potter and quite apposite, representing the kind of debates which are going on following the London bombings.

sane/insane

dhruva — Fri, 20 May 2005 00:57:37 -0800

On being sane in insane places [via]

For young deserters, refuge is hard to find

Postroad — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 15:53:37 -0800

For young deserters, refuge is hard to find It seemed like a drastic but simple solution: a step over the border into a country that had offered sanctuary before to Americans fleeing their homeland. Instead, the growing band of US soldiers who have sought political refuge in Canada after defying orders to serve in Iraq have found themselves in a political limbo.

Dedication

dancu — Tue, 27 May 2003 10:25:04 -0800

Abas Amini is knocking on deaths door, after sewing his eyes and mouth shut to bring attention to his request for asylum. He claims if he is sent back to Iran he will be executed for his political past. This guy is hardcore, he is threatening to set himself on fire if anyone tries to force feed him.

The Pain of History

The Jesse Helms — Fri, 29 Nov 2002 10:23:17 -0800

Welcome to Magdalene Asylums. Now a film, the Asylums were generally staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, and were found throughout Ireland and Scotland.

oh posey — Sat, 09 Nov 2002 08:13:52 -0800

Save your local insane asylum. When I was young and my mother would get frustrated with her brood she would merely have to say, "You are all going to send me straight to Milledgeville!" to strike terror in our souls and cause us all to behave for at least the rest of the day.

Bixby23 — Wed, 22 May 2002 18:21:25 -0800

China thumbs nose at Japan, sends asylum seekers on their way. A happy ending (beginning) for five North Korean asylum seekers who were dragged out of the Japanese consulate in Shenyang by Chinese police -- with more than tacit initial approval from local Japanese officials.

crasspastor — Tue, 07 May 2002 22:02:03 -0800

Just a defacto "Nope". "Refugees" from the US seeking asylum in Canada will no longer have any hoops to jump through. The hoops are to be replaced by impenatrable legal barriers, otherwise known as "inking the deal".

norm29 — Thu, 14 Mar 2002 12:07:44 -0800

North Koreans would rather drink poison than return Refugees seek asylum at the Spanish embassy in China. "We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom," the group's statement said. "Some of us carry poison on our person to commit suicide if the Chinese authorities should choose once again to send us back to North Korea," the statement said.

Tarrama — Fri, 18 Jan 2002 03:07:43 -0800

Woomera detainees sew lips together At least 58 asylum seekers have sewn their lips together during a hunger strike at the Woomera detention centre. I don't know what to think, I know we have to take precautions against letting terrorists in, but this is just awful.

Jase_B — Sun, 16 Sep 2001 19:06:50 -0800

The Australian HMAS Manoora is taking hundreds of Afgan asylum seekers to the island of Nauru after they were rescued by a Norwegian freighter. Many Australian's supported the Government's move not to let them into the country but much of the rest of the world (and a few Australian do-gooders who took the Government to court and won) think we should let these people in.

Today on the radio I heard the mother of one of the sailors on the Manoora saying that the majority of these "refugees" cheered and celebrated when they heard the news of the WTC and Pentagon attacks. And these are the people that the do-gooders want in our free country???

SpecialK — Sun, 20 May 2001 10:28:04 -0800

Online Scientology critic seeks political asylum in Canada A couple of weeks ago computer engineer Keith Henson was found guilty in California of a criminal act related to posts he made in the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, which contained obviously comical (all right, Sophomoric) references to targeting Scientologists with a nuclear missile.

The United States. Liberty and justice for all. Oh yeah, baby.