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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: asylum

asylum stories: 18 news summaries

Abused Wife Wins
Political Asylum in US

Decision sets precedent for women fleeing domestic abuse

Oct 30, 09 6:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration has recommended that a Guatemalan woman who came to America fleeing horrific domestic abuse be granted political asylum. Rody Alvarado Peña's case has been in the courts since 1995 and lawyers say the decision will finally clarify the rules on whether abused women in foreign countries... More »

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domestic violence • asylum • Central America • Guatemala • domestic abuse • political asylum • women's issues

 Aussies Stop 'Asylum Boat' 

60 suspected asylum-seekers to be sent to Christmas Island detention center

Sep 16, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Australian navy stopped a vessel carrying 58 suspected asylum-seekers off the country's northwest coast today, the BBC reports. It was the fourth such boat stopped in the area in under a week. The passengers will be sent to a detention center on Christmas Island, 1,600 miles west of... More »

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Australia • illegal immigration • asylum • Kevin Rudd • smuggling

(Newser) - Mental health experts have lost touch with the benefits of old-fashioned insane asylums, where patients once enjoyed a sense of community and jobs like cleaning and farming, Oliver Sacks writes in the New York Review of Books. Touching on a new book of Christopher Payne photographs called Asylum—which offers... More »

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schizophrenia • antipsychotic drugs • mental illness • asylum • mental hospital

South Africa Rages as Canada Grants White Asylum

Charges of racism after one-man board approves refugee

Sep 2, 09 7:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - A white South African man won asylum in Canada after a one-man immigration board ruled that his "fear of persecution by African South Africans" was justified, reports the Times of London. Brandon Huntley fled to Canada in April and told authorities he was attacked seven times by blacks calling... More »

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race • Canada • South Africa • race relations • asylum • African National Congress • political asylum

Iranian Lesbian Wins Asylum
in Britain

Refugee fled after girlfriend sentenced to death by stoning

Feb 16, 09 6:07 AM CST
(Newser) - A woman who fled Iran for Britain after her girlfriend was arrested has won her battle for asylum in the UK. In 2007 Pegah Emambakhsh was refused asylum, but gay rights groups claimed that she would be executed if she was forced to return to Iran and led a campaign... More »

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Iran • gay rights • lesbians • United Kingdom • homosexuality • asylum • Britain • Bill Maher Grid

No Regrets for US Iraq Deserter as Asylum Ruling Looms

German case tests EU 'unlawful war' directive

Jan 29, 09 10:47 AM CST
(Newser) - German authorities will take up the case next week of Spec. André L. Shepherd, who deserted the US Army and sought asylum rather than face a second tour of duty in Iraq. “I’m having the time of my life,” Shepherd tells the Wall Street Journal from a... More »

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Iraq • Germany • European Union • asylum • Iraq war • deserter • desertion • André Shepherd

Spain Rejects Asylum Bid of Osama's Son

He and his British wife made the request from an airport in Madrid

Nov 5, 08 8:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Osama bin Laden's son is not welcome in Spain, even if he has denounced his father's ways. The government today rejected an asylum request from Omar bin Laden, 27, and his British wife, the BBC reports. Omar lives in Egypt and says his life is endangered there because of his... More »

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Spain • Osama bin Laden • asylum • Omar bin Laden

 Osama Son 
 Seeks Asylum 
 in Madrid 

Trained operative now rallying for peace

Nov 4, 08 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Omar bin Laden—goateed, peacenik son of Osama—is seeking political asylum in Spain, where he and his British wife arrived from Egypt. He's being held at Madrid airport while authorities make a decision, Reuters reports. The al-Qaeda-trained Saudi, 28, made headlines earlier this year when, sporting a leather jacket... More »

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Spain • Osama bin Laden • asylum • Madrid • Omar bin Laden

Mukasey Steps Into Genital Mutilation Case

Citing further danger, AG gives woman second shot at asylum

Sep 23, 08 7:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - In an extremely rare move, the US attorney general has stepped into a low-level immigration case and ordered that a victim of female genital mutilation be given another chance at asylum, CNN reports. AG Michael Mukasey slammed a previous decision that said the African woman had no reason to fear... More »

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Africa • female circumcision • female genital mutilation • asylum • Michael Mukasey • Mali

Ignore Pirates or Face
Asylum Claims, UK Says

Navy argues blind eye not best policy

Apr 13, 08 10:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - In an odd new take on piracy, the British Royal Navy has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates—or they may seek asylum to escape death sentences in their home countries. It's not a strategy roundly hailed. “These people commit horrendous offenses. It’s a... More »

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Somalia • crime • kidnapping • asylum • Britain • cruise ships • pirates • ransom • cargo ships

7 Cuban
Soccer Players
Defect to US

Five are already
in talks with pro team
in Miami

Mar 13, 08 12:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Seven Cuban soccer players defected from the national team over the last two days—five on Tuesday and two last night—slipping from their Tampa hotel after a game to seek asylum in the US, the Miami Herald reports. The first five have contacted a lawyer and are in discussions... More »

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Cuba • soccer • Major League Soccer • asylum • defectors • Jose Manuel Miranda • Yenier Bermudez • Loanni Cartaya Prieto • Erly Garcia Baro • Yordany Alvarez

Iraqi Officers
Going AWOL
in America

About a dozen have skipped out while here for military training

Dec 6, 07 8:46 PM CST
(Newser) - Nearly a dozen Iraqi military and law-enforcement officials have fled specialized training programs in the US, the Washington Times reports. The men are either seeking asylum in this country or are still missing—leading a high-ranking congressman to warn of the national-security implications. An Army spokesman says none of the... More »

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Iraq • military • Department of Homeland Security • asylum • Iraq Army • AWOL

Muslim Critic
Back in Holland, Goes Into Hiding

Ex-MP Hirsi Ali seeks protection after bodyguards stand down

Oct 3, 07 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch parliamentarian who has lived in exile since 2006, has returned home after Holland's government stopped paying for her security. The Times of London writes that Hirsi Ali, a Somali refugee known for criticizing Islam, has been under round-the-clock protection since the 2004 murder of... More »

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Islam • asylum • Ayaan Hirsi Ali • Theo Van Gogh

Israel Welcomes
500 Darfur Refugees

All others
will be expelled

Sep 24, 07 3:56 AM CDT
(Newser) - Israel has agreed to allow 498 refugees who fled Darfur through Egypt to remain in the country, although their legal status remains undecided. Africans from other parts of the continent and new arrivals from Darfur, however, will be expelled. Egypt has agreed to accept refugees who are returned after trying... More »

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Israel • Africa • Darfur • Sudan • Egypt • Crisis in Darfur • Darfuris • asylum • refugee

Iraq's Upper Class Flees

2M Iraqi refugees flood surrounding region

Aug 20, 07 4:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - More than 2 million Iraqis have left home, mostly crossing the borders into neighboring Jordan and Syria. And the upper class has been the first to go—robbing the country of the doctors, engineers and government officials necessary to rebuild it. With one of ten Iraqis living abroad, the war... More »

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Iraq • inflation • Jordan • Syria • overcrowding • unemployment • asylum • refugee • Iraqi refugees

Israel Rejects Refugees from Darfur Region

Jewish state conflicted about denying migrants targeted by genocide

Aug 19, 07 4:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Israel has turned back 48 Africans to Egypt and says it will no longer accept Darfur refugees who illegally enter the country, the AP reports. Some of the 50 migrants a day who have already snuck into the country will be allowed to stay, Israel says, but all others will... More »

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Israel • Africa • Darfur • genocide • Sudan • Egypt • asylum • refugee

After Uproar, Britain Reviews Asylum Policy

Iraqi interpreters left for dead may win refugee status

Aug 8, 07 6:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - A row over the fate of 91 Iraqi interpreters working for the British military took a new turn today, with the government promising to reexamine its refusal to grant them asylum. The Times of London, which broke the story on Tuesday, now reports that Gordon Brown has ordered a review... More »

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Iraq • torture • Gordon Brown • kidnapping • asylum • interpreters • British military • Des Browne

New Van Gogh Surfaces

Work created during stay at asylum

Aug 3, 07 6:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - A previously undiscovered Van Gogh has been found hiding in plain sight—beneath another painting. Conservators at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts X-rayed The Ravine, revealing another painting created several months earlier, the MFA and the Van Gogh Museum said today. A pen-and-ink drawing of the concealed painting, Wild Vegetation,... More »

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Boston • art • painting • Amsterdam • Vincent Van Gogh • Museum of Fine Arts • Van Gogh Museum • Wild Vegetation • asylum

18 Stories


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