RIGHTS: Terror War Threatens Refugees, Warns U.N.

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 8 2002 (IPS) - The global fight against terrorism should not weaken the international refugee protection regime, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday.

“Refugees and asylum seekers must not be discriminated against because their religion, ethnicity, national origin or political affiliation are somehow assumed to link them to terrorism”, Ruud Lubbers told the Security Council.

The warning comes at a time when several countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany, have introduced new laws or tightened existing legislation against refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.

The new measures, which came into force after last September’s terrorist attacks in the United States, have been officially promoted as a necessary part of the U.S.-led international “war against terrorism”.

“Governments must avoid resorting to the mandatory or arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, and to procedures that do not comply with the standards of due process,” Lubbers told delegates.

Detention of asylum seekers must remain the exception, not the rule, he argued, pointing out that re-settlement programmes must be maintained, and must not discriminate against people of particular ethnic groups of nationalities.

Lubbers’ criticisms are implicitly directed at the United States, which has held without bail some 1,200 individuals, mostly migrants, refugees and students from Middle Eastern or Islamic nations. The arrests were made after Sep. 11.

The U.S. Justice Department has released few details about the detainees. Most of them are from Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria.

Several human rights organisations have complained that the government’s refusal to disclose the identities of many of those detained or to specify charges is a violation of basic human rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union wrote to several foreign consulates based in New York and Washington offering assistance.

“We are particularly interested in highlighting instances of abuse by our government and in developing systematic litigation to challenge its unconstitutional practice,” the group’s letter said.

New U.S. anti-terrorism measures include detention of non-citizens by immigration officials for up to one week without charges. They may be detained indefinitely if they are deemed a threat to national security.

Responding to Lubbers, U.S. Ambassador Sichan Siv told delegates, “While the U.S. has undertaken new measures to protect our national security, we cannot and will not permit the tragic events of September 11 to compromise our longstanding tradition of providing refuge to those in need.”

“We must make sure, however, that terrorists are not allowed to take advantage of the refugee protection system. In our view, this can be prevented through scrupulous application of the exceptions to refugee protection available under current law,” he added.

Siv said Washington stands ready to work with Lubbers’s office to ensure refugee status determination procedures and registration methods take into account the new security measures to combat terrorism.

Last month, federal authorities began a search for more than 6,000 men of Middle Eastern origin who had apparently disappeared after being asked to leave the country.

Although the vast majority of those violating deportation orders are from Latin America, the Justice Department is now singling out only Arab and Muslim men over other foreign nationals in their search for visa violators and asylum seekers.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said: “There’s no question because of September 11 there’s a lower tolerance level for visa overstays, and there’s a hyper- sensitivity to Arab overstays.”

The New York-based Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI) has warned that those detained have had limited access to legal counsel, no contact with their consulates, and face the prospect of being held indefinitely.

CHRI has also launched a project to inform immigrants and asylum- seekers of their rights in an attempt to help them avoid detention.

The National Lawyers Guild has put out an advisory on “What to do if (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agents come to Question You.”

The advice includes: “You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to talk to the Police, FBI, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), or any other law enforcement agent or investigator.”

The Guild also warns: “Anything you say to the Police, FBI or INS can be used against you and others.”

Late last year, the Canadian government also introduced stringent legislation aimed at fighting foreign terrorists domestically.

Under the new laws, police and immigration authorities will be given the power to compel testimony during investigations and nullify the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

The Canadian government is also tightening its asylum and refugee policies while immigrants will be identified by a plastic identity card which they are expected to carry at all times.

Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, has already expressed fears over the “worrying rise” in racial hatred following the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks.

Robinson said she was concerned about the growing number of incidents relating to xenophobia and “Islamophobia” in the wake of the U.S. attacks. She said that these incidents were further aggravated by anti-Arab and anti-Asian sentiments.

“This is an issue where real leadership is very much needed,” she said.