12-22-2005, 12:44 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anne Johnson, Communications, December 20, 2005 Director,
(202) 523-3240, ext. 27
<b>U.S. should act to prevent return of Hindu refugees to Afghanistan from
Germany</b>
WASHINGTON ? The United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to the U.S. Department of State asking that it
urgently communicate with the German government to prevent the imminent
involuntary deportation of thousands of particularly vulnerable asylum
seekers from Germany to Afghanistan, including Hindu refugees who face the
threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The imminent deportation of
Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this month by authorities
within the Federal Republic of Germany. The Afghan Hindu population was
one of the most severely persecuted groups under the Taliban, and nearly
all members of the community fled the country. Because the government in
Kabul does not exercise full control over the country, and religious
freedom and human rights abuses continue in regions outside of the central
government's control, the Commission is concerned that these individuals
will be subject to persecution if forced to return to Afghanistan. A Hindu
aid worker from India, Maniyappan Raman Kutty, was recently brutally
beheaded.
"In the event that the German government moves ahead with involuntary
deportation, the Commission is urging the U.S. Refugee Program to prepare
for the resettlement of Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly
vulnerable groups in the United States, as was done with Bosnian refugees
in the late 1990's when Germany launched their involuntary return at a time
when other members of the international community considered it too unsafe
to conduct involuntary repatriations to Bosnia," said USCIRF Chair Michael
Cromartie.
The text of the letter to the State Department follows:
Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Greene:
I am writing on behalf of the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom to urge that the United States communicate and act
urgently to prevent the imminent involuntary deportation from Germany to
Afghanistan of particularly vulnerable asylum seekers, including Hindu
refugees who face the threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The
imminent deportation of Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this
month by authorities within the Federal Republic of Germany. We ask that
the United States urgently communicate with the Federal Republic of Germany
to halt these deportations of vulnerable populations and, in addition, that
the United States take steps similar to those it took in the late 1990s to
allow applications for resettlement to the United States of Bosnian
refugees who had been faced with the similar threat of forcible return and
deportation from Germany.
As the Commission noted in its 2005 Annual Report, the government in Kabul
does not yet exercise full control over the country. Religious freedom and
human rights abuses persist in regions that are effectively outside of
central government control, as was evidenced recently by the brutal
beheading of Hindu aid worker Maniyappan Raman Kutty from India. These
substantial security threats present a persistent danger to the
establishment of democracy and the rule of law throughout Afghanistan.
Religious minorities ? such as Hindus and Sikhs ? were severely persecuted
under the Taliban, and nearly all 50,000 of them fled the country. In
official remarks made in Brussels earlier this year at the Strategic
Consultations Convening on Refugee and Population Movements to and from
Afghanistan, then-Assistant Secretary Dewey said "that there are likely to
be a significant number of Afghans for whom voluntary repatriation will not
be suitable." Assistant Secretary Dewey expressed that the United States
would not like to see Afghan refugees being "put under pressure" to leave
the major host countries of Iran and Pakistan.
We are now faced, however, with a situation where one of the most
persecuted groups under the Taliban ? the Afghan Hindu population ? is
facing forcible return by a third country: Germany. In Hamburg alone
there are 12,000 Afghans, hundreds of them Hindus, who are now being
threatened with deportation if they do not accept financial assistance to
"voluntarily" return to Afghanistan.
While the German lander (states) move ahead with plans for imminent
deportations, even the German Foreign Ministry reports that the situation
for Afghans "continues unimproved countrywide" and that, in some provinces,
"a return there is not possible without risk to life and limb."
This situation is not unprecedented. In the late 1990's, the German lander
launched involuntary returns of Bosnian refugees at a time when other
members of the international community considered it too unsafe to conduct
involuntary repatriations. At that time, the United States government,
after being unsuccessful in its efforts to discourage the Germans from
conducting such deportations, established a processing priority for
Bosnians in Germany, and saved many of them from deportation by allowing
them to apply to the United States for resettlement. We would urge that
the United States prevail upon the German government to stop returns of
members of religious minorities persecuted under the Taliban.
To prepare for the possibility that this suggestion from the United States
could go unheeded, we would also urge that the U.S. Refugee Program make
preparations for the establishment of a resettlement processing priority
for Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly vulnerable groups.
This program could be based on the highly successful one established nearly
a decade ago to protect Bosnian asylum seekers from premature deportations
out of Germany.
We look forward to your timely attention to this imminent situation and to
your response.
Sincerely,
Michael Cromartie
Chair
cc: Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international
instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the
President, Secretary of State, and Congress.
Visit our Web site at www.uscirf.gov
Michael Cromartie, Chair Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair Nina Shea, Vice Chair
Khaled Abou El Fadl Preeta D. Bansal Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Richard D. Land Elizabeth H. Prodromou
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio
Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director
800 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW SUITE 790 WASHINGTON, DC 20002 202-523-3240
202-523-5020 (FAX)
Contact: Anne Johnson, Communications, December 20, 2005 Director,
(202) 523-3240, ext. 27
<b>U.S. should act to prevent return of Hindu refugees to Afghanistan from
Germany</b>
WASHINGTON ? The United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) wrote to the U.S. Department of State asking that it
urgently communicate with the German government to prevent the imminent
involuntary deportation of thousands of particularly vulnerable asylum
seekers from Germany to Afghanistan, including Hindu refugees who face the
threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The imminent deportation of
Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this month by authorities
within the Federal Republic of Germany. The Afghan Hindu population was
one of the most severely persecuted groups under the Taliban, and nearly
all members of the community fled the country. Because the government in
Kabul does not exercise full control over the country, and religious
freedom and human rights abuses continue in regions outside of the central
government's control, the Commission is concerned that these individuals
will be subject to persecution if forced to return to Afghanistan. A Hindu
aid worker from India, Maniyappan Raman Kutty, was recently brutally
beheaded.
"In the event that the German government moves ahead with involuntary
deportation, the Commission is urging the U.S. Refugee Program to prepare
for the resettlement of Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly
vulnerable groups in the United States, as was done with Bosnian refugees
in the late 1990's when Germany launched their involuntary return at a time
when other members of the international community considered it too unsafe
to conduct involuntary repatriations to Bosnia," said USCIRF Chair Michael
Cromartie.
The text of the letter to the State Department follows:
Dear Acting Assistant Secretary Greene:
I am writing on behalf of the United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom to urge that the United States communicate and act
urgently to prevent the imminent involuntary deportation from Germany to
Afghanistan of particularly vulnerable asylum seekers, including Hindu
refugees who face the threat of violence upon return to Afghanistan. The
imminent deportation of Afghan asylum seekers was announced earlier this
month by authorities within the Federal Republic of Germany. We ask that
the United States urgently communicate with the Federal Republic of Germany
to halt these deportations of vulnerable populations and, in addition, that
the United States take steps similar to those it took in the late 1990s to
allow applications for resettlement to the United States of Bosnian
refugees who had been faced with the similar threat of forcible return and
deportation from Germany.
As the Commission noted in its 2005 Annual Report, the government in Kabul
does not yet exercise full control over the country. Religious freedom and
human rights abuses persist in regions that are effectively outside of
central government control, as was evidenced recently by the brutal
beheading of Hindu aid worker Maniyappan Raman Kutty from India. These
substantial security threats present a persistent danger to the
establishment of democracy and the rule of law throughout Afghanistan.
Religious minorities ? such as Hindus and Sikhs ? were severely persecuted
under the Taliban, and nearly all 50,000 of them fled the country. In
official remarks made in Brussels earlier this year at the Strategic
Consultations Convening on Refugee and Population Movements to and from
Afghanistan, then-Assistant Secretary Dewey said "that there are likely to
be a significant number of Afghans for whom voluntary repatriation will not
be suitable." Assistant Secretary Dewey expressed that the United States
would not like to see Afghan refugees being "put under pressure" to leave
the major host countries of Iran and Pakistan.
We are now faced, however, with a situation where one of the most
persecuted groups under the Taliban ? the Afghan Hindu population ? is
facing forcible return by a third country: Germany. In Hamburg alone
there are 12,000 Afghans, hundreds of them Hindus, who are now being
threatened with deportation if they do not accept financial assistance to
"voluntarily" return to Afghanistan.
While the German lander (states) move ahead with plans for imminent
deportations, even the German Foreign Ministry reports that the situation
for Afghans "continues unimproved countrywide" and that, in some provinces,
"a return there is not possible without risk to life and limb."
This situation is not unprecedented. In the late 1990's, the German lander
launched involuntary returns of Bosnian refugees at a time when other
members of the international community considered it too unsafe to conduct
involuntary repatriations. At that time, the United States government,
after being unsuccessful in its efforts to discourage the Germans from
conducting such deportations, established a processing priority for
Bosnians in Germany, and saved many of them from deportation by allowing
them to apply to the United States for resettlement. We would urge that
the United States prevail upon the German government to stop returns of
members of religious minorities persecuted under the Taliban.
To prepare for the possibility that this suggestion from the United States
could go unheeded, we would also urge that the U.S. Refugee Program make
preparations for the establishment of a resettlement processing priority
for Afghan Hindus and members of other particularly vulnerable groups.
This program could be based on the highly successful one established nearly
a decade ago to protect Bosnian asylum seekers from premature deportations
out of Germany.
We look forward to your timely attention to this imminent situation and to
your response.
Sincerely,
Michael Cromartie
Chair
cc: Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the
International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international
instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the
President, Secretary of State, and Congress.
Visit our Web site at www.uscirf.gov
Michael Cromartie, Chair Felice D. Gaer, Vice Chair Nina Shea, Vice Chair
Khaled Abou El Fadl Preeta D. Bansal Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Richard D. Land Elizabeth H. Prodromou
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez Ambassador John V. Hanford III, Ex-Officio
Joseph R. Crapa, Executive Director
800 NORTH CAPITOL STREET, NW SUITE 790 WASHINGTON, DC 20002 202-523-3240
202-523-5020 (FAX)