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Ngurah Rai Immigration to deport two Iranian
Tuban, East Java (ANTARA News) - The immigration office at Bali`s Ngurah Rai airport will soon deport two Iranians who were arrested for using fake passports, a spokesman said.
"They were arrested on July 14, 2008, when they were about to depart to Japan by a Garuda Indonesia flight," Bambang Hendro Purnomo of the Ngurah Rai airport immigration office said on Wednesday.
The Iranians were arrested for holding fake Dutch and Swiss passports which they had bought in Thailand for US$1.000.
They had arrived in Indonesia on July 7 for a stopover before proceeding to Japan.
Purnomo said the Ngurah Rai immigration office had in the past discovered many similar cases in which foreigners holding fake passports obtained in Malaysia or Thailnad made stopovers in Bali before traveling to other countries.
Last July 10, 2008, the local immigration office also deported an Iranian national for holding a fake passport.Comment
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Yadegary decision shows need for Immigration Bill change
Green Party MP Keith Locke welcomes the Court of Appeal's decision upholding bail to a jailed Iranian Christian, and says Parliament should delete a provision in the Immigration Bill that allows indefinite detention.
Iranian Thomas Yadegary, a Christian convert from Islam issued with a deportation order, was imprisoned for nearly two and a half years on remand in Mt Eden Prison after he refused to sign an application for an Iranian passport.
"It is appalling that New Zealand has jailed Christian converts like Thomas Yadegary for long periods, when their only crime has been not to sign papers which would see them returned to persecution in Iran," Mr Locke, the Party's Immigration Spokesperson, says.
"The Court of Appeal judges were right that to extend the 29-month imprisonment was unreasonable in the circumstances, thus justifying Mr Yadegary's release on bail.
"Unfortunately, the Immigration Bill currently before Parliament has clauses which tie the hands of the judges in future bail applications. Clauses 271 and 285 prohibit the granting of bail to deportees who are guilty of some 'inaction' - such as not signing Iranian passport documents - and judges may not take as an 'exceptional circumstance' for their release the period of time that the person has already been detained.
"This provision for indefinite detention is repugnant in a democratic society, and contravenes common law principles that a person's imprisonment cannot be unreasonable, or out of proportion to its purpose.
"People such as Thomas Yadegary will now be presented with a Hobson's choice of either indefinite detention in New Zealand, or signing the papers which would see them returned to Iranian persecution. Conversion from Islam, or apostasy, is a capital crime under a bill now before the Iranian Parliament."Comment
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Some people vote based on one issue, while others vote based on the full picture of a candidate. But regardless of the candidates’ views and plans, professors, research and surveys agree ethnicity influences minority voters.
Asian Ethnicity
Voters who identify as Asian are more likely to support the Democratic party.
Voters of Asian ethnicity are generally swing voters, said Xi Chen, political science assistant professor.
Twenty-four percent of Asian-American voters support Sen. John McCain and 41 percent support Sen. Barack Obama, according to a Agence France-Presse survey. Asian-American voters concentrate on economic policies, public health, immigration and education, Chen said.
Thirty-four percent of Asian-Americans remain undecided, the AFP survey said.
While most Asian-Americans support the Democratic Party, Vietnamese-Americans traditionally tend to support the Republican Party, Chen said. This support is because most Vietnamese immigrants left during the Vietnam War and identify with the political party which most supports anti-communist ideals.
Ngoc Huyhh, a biological science freshman of Asian ethnicity, said she doesn’t think her ethnicity influences her voting. Instead she said she focuses on each candidates’ ideas.
Black Ethnicity
Obama finds strong support with black voters.
Blacks support Obama by 92 percent, according to Oct. 27 Gallup polls. Blacks voted for the Democratic Party in 2000 by 95 percent and 93 percent in 2004 election.
“Not only do I vote for what would help me, but also I know that I am more privileged than others in my ethnicity, and I vote for what I think would help all minorities,” said Amanda Myles, a black history freshman.
Middle-Eastern Ethnicity
Middle-Eastern ethnicity sways voters in different directions depending on specific ethnic identification.
Ethnicity voting influence differs among Christian Arab-Americans, Muslims Arab-Americans, Iranian-Americans and Jewish Americans.
Christian Arab-Americans are most adapted to American culture, said Mark Gasiorowski, political science professor. Most Christian Arab-Americans are of Lebanese origin and are closest to mainstream American voters following generations of living in the U.S. and assimilation into American culture, he said.
Many Muslim Arab-Americans are mostly from Israel, Gasiorowski said. Gasiorowski guessed Muslim Arab-Americans generally support Obama because of a belief McCain will continue President Bush’s perceived anti-Muslim agenda.
Many Arab Muslims opposed the Iraq invasion, Gasiorowski said.
Iranian-American voters are not segregated by religion, Gasiorowski said, and tend to support Obama because of his openness to relations with Iran, Gasiorowski said.
Iranian Americans no longer support the Republican Party after the Bush administration and don’t believe McCain will be open to negotiations with Iran, Gasiorowski said.
Jewish Americans tend to support the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party because they are traditionally liberal, Gasiorowski said. American relations with the Middle East, mostly relations with Israel, are important to Jewish Americans, Gasiorowski said.
Hawkish Jewish Americans, a small group who support McCain, want hardline relations to be strict with the Arab world, Gasiorowski said. Dovish Jewish Americans, a large majority of Jewish Americans, support peace negotiations and feel that McCain will not help, Gasiorowski said.Comment
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There was a 63 percent increase in illegal immigrants deported from Georgia and the Carolinas in the 12 months ending in October, and thousands of criminals were tagged for removal from the country upon their release from prison, federal officials said Thursday.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Atlanta Field Office of Detention and Removal carried out a record 17,955 deportation orders, compared with 11,006 the previous year, officials said.
They were among more than 40,000 people the field office processed in the three states during fiscal 2008.
They included Nai Yin Xue, a New Zealand man wanted in his homeland for the killing of his wife.
He was arrested in suburban Atlanta in late February and escorted back to New Zealand in March.
Also deported was Afshin Rezaei, an Iranian living in Atlanta who pleaded guilty to exporting laptop computers to Iran through the United Arab Emirates in violation of export laws.
With help from state and local authorities, ICE said it identified 9,182 criminal aliens who were incarcerated. Georgia led the way with more than 4,700.
In addition, the agency began removal proceedings against another 7,000 criminals in state, local and federal jails and prisons, an increase from 3,722 in 2007. Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for ICE, said they will face possible deportation when their sentences are complete.
The agency also said fugitive teams in the three states arrested 1,938 people who had been ordered deported by immigration judges but failed to comply.
Among them was Humberto Rodas-Diaz, a Mexican convicted of aggravated sexual battery and child molestation who had illegally re-entered the country. He was arrested by the Atlanta fugitive operations team on March 10 and was deported.Comment
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بازرسي هاي شرم آور زائران ايراني در مرز مهران
تنها چند هفته بعد از انتشار خبري مبني بر انجام برخي بازبيني هاي زننده از مسافران ايراني يكي از پروازهاي دبي، خبرنگار عصرايران از تكرار اين رويداد در مرز مهران خبردار شد.
نماينده ايلام در مجلس شوراي اسلامي به خبرنگار عصرايران گفت: روز گذشته زايران ايراني عتبات عاليات در مرز مهران به دلايل واهي مورد بازبيني هاي غير متعارف ماموران عراقي مرزي قرار گرفتند و ماموران عراقي زنان زاير را به صورتي زننده مورد بازرسي بدني قرار داده اند.
داريوش قنبري افزود: ماموران مرزي عراق علاوه بر اين اقدام زنان ايراني را مجبور كرده اند لباس هاي خود را از تن در آورند.
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KISH ISLAND, Iran-A 23-year-old Filipino was mauled by immigration police after he tried to break free from his captors who took him to a dark secluded area near their detachment after arresting him for wearing a tank top in public.
Christopher Pilapil, a graphic artist, said he fought to break loose because he feared he would be raped. There had been several unconfirmed reports here about expatriates being raped; the reports however, could not immediately be verified.
Pilapil said he got suspicious when the officers ordered him into their patrol car and sped him in a different direction instead of taking him to an immigration office just behind the hotel where he was staying at-Farabi-and in which vicinity he was arrested.
Pilapil said he tried to escape upon alighting from the patrol car near the vicinity of the immigration police detachment, which was behind another hotel-Espadana-some 10 minutes away from Farabi, and where other expats, including Filipinos, were billeted.
"I ran because I was afraid that they would rape me. I have heard lots of stories about locals, even law enforcement officers, arresting visitors for minor offenses, and raping them," he said.
He said he should have been given a warning as was the standard procedure and ordered home to change clothes.
He said the two officers inside the car, assisted by about a dozen more from the detachment, caught him back and subdued him as he struggled.
"One held my right leg; the other, my left one. Another held my right arm; and still another one grabbed my left arm. There was also another officer who held my head tight," Pilapil said. He said he managed to break free by kicking those holding his legs, and shouting at the top of his lung for help to catch the attention of fellow Filipinos inside Espadana Hotel, who were, by then, already checking out the commotion from their bedroom windows.
Pilapil said one of the officers punched him in the face; another kicked him on the sides.
"They stopped when they noticed that people were watching," Pilapil said.
He was then brought to the immigration office that was behind Farabi hotel and ordered to write and sign an apology letter, which he did.
Pilapil managed to make a phone call to one of his friends staying at Farabi, who immediately came to assist him.
Pilapil was arrested around 9:30pm, Dec. 30; he was released 1:30am, Dec. 31.
Iran observes strict laws on public conduct: Women are required to wear head scarves called shaila, and have their behinds covered with a wraparound cloth; men are not allowed to wear shorts and tank tops; unmarried couples are discouraged from showing public displays of affection. Loud laughter is also not allowed.
First offenders are given warnings; those found repeating the same offense are locked up and deported.
Being on Kish Island where they wait for their re-entry visas to the United Arab Emirates, most expats-visa runners as they are called-fear deportation because that would mean being transported to their home country at their own expense; it also reduces their chances of going abroad for work again.
Pilapil, a visa runner, had been staying on Kish Island for over a month. His re-entry visa was finally issued on Dec. 31. He hurriedly left for Dubai because of fear for his life.
Repeated efforts to contact immigration officials for comments failed.Comment
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استراليا به 28 ايراني و افغان پناهندگي داد
پناهجويان غالبا با كشتي هايي كه براي سفر دريايي با ظرفيت بيش از حد، آماده نيستند، عازم استراليا مي شوند
دولت استراليا به اولين گروه از پناهجوياني كه به موجب قانون سياست هاي جديد مهاجرت استراليا به تقاضاي پناهندگي آنان رسيدگي شده، اجازه اقامت دائم در اين كشور داده است.
به موجب مقررات جديد دولت استراليا كه اعطاي پناهندگي را آسان تر كرده، به 28 ايراني و افغان، پناهندگي داده شده است.
كريس اوانز، وزير مهاجرت استراليا گفت اين عده با ارائه شواهد و دلايل قوي ثابت كرده بودند كه در صورت بازگشت به كشورشان با مرگ يا آزار و ايذا روبرو خواهند شد.
مامورين استراليايي اين 18 بزرگسال و 10 كودك را در فاصله 29 سپتامبر و 24 نوامبر سال 2008 شناسايي كرده و آنان را در يك جزيره دور افتاده در اقيانوس هند موسوم به جزيره كريسمس، نگاهداري مي كردند.
دولت استراليا در اين جزيره يك بازداشتگاه براي نگهداري پناهجويان داير كرده است.
سخنگوي وزارت مهاجرت استراليا گفت به 28 پناهنده ايراني و افغان اجازه اقامت در ايالت استرالياي جنوبي داده شده است و به آنان براي ثبت نام در كلاس هاي آموزش زبان انگليسي كمك خواهد شد.
اين پناهندگان همچنين از تسهيلات پزشكي برخوردار خواهند شد.
كوين راد، نخست وزير استراليا به شيوه معمول ز نداني كردن پناهجوياني كه وارد اين كشور مي شوند پايان داده و قول داده است به پرونده هاي متقاضيان پناهندگي با سرعت بيشتري رسيدگي شود.
كوين راد سياست قبلي برخورد با پناهندگان را كه بسيار انعطاف ناپذير بود و در دوره نخست وزيري جان هوارد، به اجرا گذاشته شده بود در ماه ژوئيه گذشته لغو كرد.
استراليا مقصد نهايي بسياري از افراد فقيري است كه غالبا از كشورهاي جنگ زده به اميد شروع يك زندگي بهتر به اين كشور رو مي آورند.
در سال هاي اخير عده زيادي از عراق و افغانستان عازم استراليا شده اند.
اين پناهجويان معمولا با هواپيما خود را به اندونزي مي رسانند و سپس راه خود به مقصد استراليا را در قايق ها و كشتي هايي كه مناسب براي سفرهاي دريايي نبوده و بيش از ظرفيت مسافر سوار كرده اند، ادامه مي دهند.
پناهجوياني كه با قايق خود را به استراليا مي رسانند هنوز تا هنگامي كه به پرونده شان رسيدگي نشده در جزيره كريسمس نگاهداري مي شوند.
در حال حاضر دولت استراليا سرگرم رسيدگي به پرونده 134 پناهجوي ديگري است كه در اين جزيره بسر مي برند.
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The creation of the Iranian diaspora has its roots in the Islamic Revolution, which culminated on February 11, 1979. The revolution, the post-revolutionary power struggle, and Saddam Hussein's invasion of Iran triggered a mass exodus of Iranians to all corners of the world, many of whom came to reside in America. They left for different reasons but many endured the same struggles while abroad.
The Iranian diaspora comprises Iranians from all political persuasions and economic classes who left Iran around the same time.
Many members of the upper echelons of society who had benefited from connections with the ousted regime had the financial means to leave, and they did so because their position of economic privilege was challenged with the advent of the revolution. This group of the diaspora can be generalized as the monarchist or royalist faction, and many of its members relocated to Southern California.
This faction has pinned its hopes on Reza Pahlavi, who crowned himself Reza Shah II shortly after the death of King Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1980. Reza Shah II is heir to the throne that has since ceased to exist, as the Islamic Revolution swept it away. Nevertheless, the monarchists and their enormous bank accounts have maintained several satellite TV stations that transmit to Iran their opposition to the current status quo. Reza Pahlavi, however, has spent most of his life abroad and is generally viewed by the masses in Iran as a foreigner who is out of touch with the political realities of today's Iran.
The Leftists
After the revolution, the Mujahideen came to represent the single most dangerous threat to the Islamic regime.
Members of the People's Fadaiyan group (Fadaiyan-e Khalq), along with Iran's traditional Communist Party, the Tudeh, and other smaller Leftist groups, left Iran after finding political life under an Islamic revolutionary government unsuitable. Many members relocated to Paris, France, or to Berkeley, California, USA, the international headquarters for the Left's resistance against the Shah prior to the revolution. Today, the Leftists have largely withered away, but small pockets remain active in espousing their ideology and spreading awareness.
The People's Mujahideen (Mujahideen-e Khalq), along with the People's Fadaiyan, constituted the most effective armed resistance to the Shah's regime before 1979. After the revolution, the Mujahideen came to represent the single most dangerous threat to the Islamic regime, and in the spring of 1981, they launched a full-scale armed uprising.
Although they inflicted massive casualties on Iran's ruling elite in the early months of their uprising, by the summer of 1982, they were decimated in Iran and eventually relocated to Iraq at a time where the two countries were locked in a bitter war. The Mujahideen have since been largely discredited for siding with Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War and launching a failed invasion of Iran during the war's latter stages. Additionally, they also played a role in the 1991 Gulf War massacres. The Mujahideen are accused of being Saddam's henchmen, as they were actively used by Saddam to quell the popular uprisings in the north and south of Iraq after the Gulf War.
It is difficult to know how active the Mujahideen are abroad, as the US, French, and British governments have classified them as a terrorist organization; therefore, the Mujahideen operate clandestinely in those countries. American forces in Iraq have largely disarmed the Mujahideen's armed forces, but the United States continues to protect the group and has refused the Iraqi government's demands to have them expelled.
The Iraqi government, which comprises mainly Shiites and Kurds, is hostile to the Mujahideen because of its involvement in Saddam's fierce crackdown on the Shiite and Kurdish uprisings in 1991. Furthermore, the Iraqi government is now very close to Iran, and the Iranian government has pressured Iraq to have the Islamic Republic's largest armed opposition group expelled.
The United States, however, has refused such demands, as it views the Mujahideen as a strategic asset. Although the State Department has branded the Mujahideen a terrorist organization, the United States still finds it useful, as it provides the Americans with intelligence (regardless of its veracity) pertaining to Iran's nuclear program.
Iranians in the United States
The United States came to be the home of the largest Iranian diaspora community.
Many secular republicans also found political life in a country gripped by the Islamic Revolution as unfit, and they left Iran alongside many other Iranians who simply sought a better life elsewhere. The revolution, the post-revolutionary power struggle, and the disastrous Iran-Iraq War had dire consequences on Iran's economy, and many Iranians who could afford to leave did so with the hopes of finding a life with more opportunities for advancement.
Although before the revolution there were a few Iranians living abroad pursuing a higher education, the mass influx of Iranians after the events of 1979 officially gave birth to a diaspora. In other words, the Iranian diaspora is not even 30 years old, and the United States came to be the home of the largest Iranian diaspora community. Southern California, in particular, has the world's largest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran. There is no way of being certain, but the most common figures estimate that there are anywhere between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Iranians living in the United States.
On November 4, 1979, student militants in Iran stormed the US Embassy and held its 52-member staff hostage for 444 days. This event marked the meltdown of US-Iranian relations and made an impact on the lives of every Iranian trying to start over in the United States, as anti-Iranian sentiment climaxed. It was in this climate that Iranians struggled to begin anew in exile. Regardless of their political or economic backgrounds, Iranians trying to start over in the United States in the 1980s were faced with the same struggles of social rejection, isolation, language barrier, and employment issues.
Those who brought their families to the United States made finding employment, working hard, and rebuilding their lives abroad their highest priority. Part of starting over was learning an entirely new language and culture, which was integral to adapting to their new environment.
Thus, as part of that endeavor, many Iranians who grew up abroad developed identity complexes. Many adopted American names, learned little — if any — of their native language, and were embarrassed of being identified as Iranian, given the constant barrage the country and nationality faced in the American media. Since many parents were so consumed with having the younger generation adapt to a new life, they did little to help the Iranian youth develop their cultural identity. Additionally, the lack of infrastructure did not help the situation. Given the fact that Iranians settled in the United States a short time ago, Iranian cultural centers and institutions were scarce.
9/11
Prior to 9/11, Iranians were considered "sitting ducks," meaning they were vulnerable to political or social persecution.
However, when the attacks of 9/11 occurred, everything changed, from the way Iranians view themselves to the institutions they build. Prior to 9/11, Iranians were considered "sitting ducks," meaning they were highly vulnerable to political or social persecution in the United States. Iranian youth lacked self-awareness, political consciousness, and organization.
After 9/11, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detained many Iranians who had nothing to do with 9/11 or terrorism, even going so far as deporting some. This event became an impetus for change. Since then, there has been a marked rise in the establishment of cultural centers, Persian language programs, political action committees, informational websites and magazines, and student organizations. Indeed, many Iranian Americans even began running for office, and some have been successful in winning local elections.
Although many young Iranians in the United States had begun to take an active interest in their culture, nation of origin, and language(s), 9/11 intensified that interest. 9/September 11 put the Middle East in an even brighter spotlight and put extra emphasis on Iran as a member of Bush's infamous "Axis of Evil." A large number of Iranian youth, who already had an interest in their background before 9/11, developed an even greater interest afterward as they wanted to understand the background for such cataclysmic events.
Today, more and more Iranian American youth are taking their first trips to Iran since they were either born or left with their families as infants. As more Persian language programs are organized in cultural centers or universities, more and more Iranians are enrolling, not only to learn the language, but also to get better acquainted with a culture that their parents did not have the time to fully teach them because they were busy building a new life for their families in a new country.Comment
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اقدام عجيب سفارتخانه هاي اروپايي در صدور ویزا برای ایرانی ها
این اقدام مداخله جویانه و نیز برخورد تحقیر آمیز کارمندان برخی سفارتخانه ها، موجب اعتراض بسیاری از هموطنانمان قرار گرفته و تا کنون هیچ اقدام موثری در این زمینه از سوی دستگاه دیپلماسی کشور صورت نگرفته است.
به گزارش خبرنگار جهان، اخيراً برخي سفارتخانه هاي اروپايي، از جمله سفارتخانه هاي فرانسه،* انگليس و آلمان، هنگام صدور رواديد براي متقاضيان ايراني كه قصد سفر به كشورهاي فوق را دارند، به بهانه مصاحبه سوالاتي نظير پيش بيني نتايج انتخابات رياست جمهوري سال آينده و وضعيت ايران پس از اين انتخابات را از ايراني هاي متقاضي صدور رواديد مي پرسند.
این در حالی است که طی این مدت، این سفارتخانه ها در صدور روادید برای متقاضیان ایرانی، سخت گیری های بیشتری را اعمال می کنند.
گفتنی است، چندی پیش سفارتخانه های مذکور، بروشورهایی را با هدف بزرگنمایی احتمال حمله آمریکا به ایران و خطری که ایران را تهدید می کند، چاپ کرده و در اختیار اتباع خود در ایران قرار دادند. در این بروشور 50 نقطه امن در شهر تهران هنگام بروز حمله احتمالی به ایران به این اتباع معرفی شده بود.
بنا براین گزارش این اقدامات مداخله جویانه و نیز برخورد تحقیر آمیز کارمندان برخی سفارتخانه ها، موجب اعتراض بسیاری از هموطنانمان قرار گرفته و تا کنون هیچ اقدام موثری در این زمینه از سوی دستگاه دیپلماسی کشور صورت نگرفته است.
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