Biodun.BBC: Yemenis

Showing posts with label Yemenis. Show all posts

Friday, June 29, 2018

South Korea to tighten asylum laws as hundreds of Yemenis arrive

June 29, 2018, 11H:32 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Wang Yang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, SEOUL

SEOUL - South Korea will tighten laws governing the arrival of refugees, the Justice Ministry said on Friday, after a rapid rise in the number of Yemeni asylum seekers sparked anti-refugee sentiment in the racially homogeneous country.

Yemen refugees wait for consultation at the Jeju refugee center in Jeju, South Korea, June 29, 2018. Yonhap via REUTERS

More than 552 people from Yemen arrived on the southern resort island of Jeju between January and May, more than the 430 Yemenis who had ever applied for refugee status in South Korea, the ministry said.

The country has granted refugee status to just over 800 people since 1994. The sudden surge in Yemeni arrivals has fueled concern that many could be seeking economic advantage rather than protection and that they could lead to an increase in crime and other social problems.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Yemenis, Iranians sue U.S. State Department, ask for visas to be processed

AUGUST 5, 2017 / 11H:13 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, New York

NEW YORK - Dozens of Yemenis and Iranians who won the chance to immigrate to the United States sued the U.S. State Department on Friday for not processing their visa applications after President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban was reinstated.

The ban, which was blocked by lower courts before being partially reinstated by the Supreme Court in June, temporarily bars citizens of Yemen, Iran and four other Muslim-majority countries with no "bona fide" U.S. connections from traveling to the United States.

The Supreme Court ruling sharply limited the number of people affected by the ban. However, thousands of citizens of the six countries who won a randomized U.S. government lottery last year to apply for a so-called green card - granting them permanent residence in the United States - were left in limbo.

A recent email from the U.S. government to lottery winners still awaiting their visas warned "it is plausible that your case will not be issuable" due to the 90-day travel ban.

In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C., more than 90 Yemeni and Iranian lottery winners said the U.S. government was refusing to issue their visas - won under the "diversity visa" program - because of the travel ban.

"This isn't right, fair, or lawful, and we are willing to do what it takes — including going to court — to fight for the rights of our clients," said Esther Sung, an attorney at National Immigration Law Center, one of the organizations representing the lottery winners.

The U.S. State Department declined to comment on pending litigation.

In the lawsuit, the winners asked the government to process their visa applications before Sept. 30, which is when their eligibility for green cards expires.

"A winning lottery spot is a rare and precious thing. If our clients do not receive their visas by September 30, they lose what may be their only chance at becoming Americans," said Omar Jadwat, a director at the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU is another of the groups that brought the suit on behalf of the winners.

The "diversity visa" program, which attracts about 14 million applicants each year, was passed in its current form by Congress in 1990 to provide a path to U.S. residency for citizens from a range of countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Ghana's leader Mahama defends accepting Guantanamo detainees

by Tokun Lawal and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Accra, Ghana

From the section Africa

Guantanamo Bay prison — Image caption The Guantanamo Bay facility is used to detain what the US government calls "enemy combatants"

Ghana's president has strongly defended the government's decision to allow two Yemenis freed from Guantanamo Bay to live in the West African state.

Opposition and church groups had condemned the decision, saying the men were a security threat.
However, Mr Mahama said a Ghanaian was more likely to die in a road accident than at the hands of the Yemenis.
The men said they looked forward to living in Ghana, and had followed the national football team in prison.
Khalid al-Dhuby and Mahmoud Omar Bin Atef were held at the US prison in Cuba for more than a decade without being charged.
They are the first Guantanamo detainees that Ghana has accepted, at the request of the US.

Africa Live: BBC news updates

The jail was set up following the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US to detain what Washington called "enemy combatants".
US President Barack Obama has said he wants to close the jail down before he leaves office in 2017.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital, Accra, Mr Mahama said that Guantanamo Bay was a "blot on the human rights record of the world".

Ghana's striker Asamoah Gyan (L) scores against the USA during extra time of their 2010 World Cup round of 16 football match at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, on June 26, 2010 — Image caption The ex-detainees say they were happy when Ghana beat the US in the 2010 football World Cup

"They [the men] just want to pick up the pieces of their lives and live normally. We don't have anything to fear," Mr Mahama said, adding that Mr al-Dhuby and Mr Atef were living in a security compound.
He dismissed as "absolutely untrue" allegations that Ghana had received money from the US to take the detainees.
Earlier, the influential Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference called the Yemenis "time bombs" who should be "sent back to wherever they came from".
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) said that official US documents showed the men had "violent and dangerous profiles".
"Why is government straining to paint a picture of the two detainees as harmless, misunderstood and wrongly detained persons?" it asked.

'Celebrating the Black Stars'

The two men were captured in Afghanistan, following the US-led invasion to overthrow the Taleban government in 2011.
Mr al-Dhuby and Mr Atef have denied belonging to militant groups.
"We have been wrongly arrested for 14 years without any charge against us," Mr Atef told Ghana's public radio station Uniiq FM.
"We have suffered but we are not looking for revenge," he said.

Mr Atef said they were huge fans of Ghana footballer Asamoah Gyan, and many of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay supported the Black Stars at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"When Ghana beat America, we were very happy. We made some celebrations. We also told the guards that we've won," Mr Atef said.
Ghana beat the US 2-1, with Gyan scoring the winning goal in extra-time, which sent the Black Stars through to the quarter-finals.
Dozens of countries have received former Guantanamo Bay detainees, including other African states such as Uganda and Cape Verde.
A total of 780 men have been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2002, the vast majority without charge or criminal trial.
The US navy base now has 105 detainees, nearly 50 of whom have been cleared for release.

Biodun Iginla, BBC News