{Fwd'd From SSP Notice-Board}
3,500 miles from home and still they can't escape pain and death
===========================================
David Montgomery ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
IT BEARS a bland title, yet within the text of United Nations
resolution 688 are two words that should mean so much to the Kurdish
people: safe haven.
That was the intended goal of the April 1991 resolution which called
for the Kurds' "human and political rights" to be protected from the
tyranny of Saddam Hussein.
Ten years on, and the 25 million Kurds are still persecuted and
tortured - and remain the largest ethnic group in the world without
their own state.
They have lived for thousands of years in an area that is now part of
Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and the former Soviet Union - and every
year, spurred on by images of the West as some sort of paradise,
thousands make the difficult and often dangerous journey to Europe.
The Kurd who died after being stabbed in Glasgow early yesterday
morning was part of this exodus, possibly driven into embarking on
the perilous journey by the lure of a better life.
While he may have heard of some of the difficulties other refugees
encountered in Sighthill, they must have seemed minor compared to
those he left behind.
In his "homeland" of Turkey, about 25 per cent of its population is
made up of about ten million to 15 million Kurds.
Until 1991, Kurdish music and language, dress, associations and
newspapers were banned. After the Gulf war, which brought the cause
of the Iraqi Kurds into the headlines, Kurdish printing was legalised
in Turkey, but in the intervening years, numerous Kurdish newspaper
offices have been bombed and closed.
Radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish are still banned. The
Kurdish language may not be taught in schools or used by merchants on
shopfronts or in advertising. It is illegal in Turkey for parents to
give their child a Kurdish name.
More than a dozen Kurdish journalists, as well as numerous
politicians and activists, have been killed by death squads. Amnesty
International fears many Kurds are also tortured.
The murder victim left this behind, only to become the first fatality
of the growing antagonism between locals and asylum-seekers in the
housing schemes of Glasgow.
The problems in Glasgow reflect the broader difficulties of the
asylum issue, which has bedevilled the Labour government since it
came to power.
Jack Straw, the former home secretary, introduced measures to try to
reduce the flow of asylum-seekers and deflect criticisms that his
party was too soft on refugees.
He was vilified for his voucher scheme, where immigrants would
receive vouchers in place of state benefits. Mr Straw also introduced
fines for lorry drivers, penalised �2,000 per stowaway found on their
vehicles, and recruited an additional 3,000 immigration officers.
Despite the measures, the number of asylum-seekers arriving in
Britain increased to 76,000 last year - the highest in Europe - as
desperate people took increasingly desperate measures to get into the
UK.
They have stowed under trains, hid in the underbelly of aircraft -
and squeezed into container lorries.
David Blunkett, the new Home Secretary, has indicated a shift in tone
by saying he wants to scrap the voucher scheme.
In contrast to his predecessor, Mr Blunkett is promising a "tough and
tender" approach and has ordered Home Office officials to come up
with workable alternatives to the voucher scheme. At the same time he
has raised the prospect of introducing an American style "green card"
scheme for Britain to encourage skilled immigrants to work in the
country.
Critics say Labour has been too slow in tackling the asylum-seekers
issue. For the young man who died in Glasgow, any changes to the
system certainly come much, much too late.
---------------------------------------------------
Outrage over refugee murder
===================
By Dan McDougall and Jill Stevenson
RACIAL tension in Scotland reached a new high yesterday after the
murder of a Kurdish asylum seeker.
The 22-year-old, who had been in the country for only two weeks, was
stabbed to death as he returned to his home in Sighthill, Glasgow,
following a night out.
Police said the killing, which follows months of escalating tensions
in the area, could be racially motivated.
The death of the man - named by fellow refugees as Firsat Yildiz -
triggered trouble in Sighthill, which has taken in an estimated 2,000
asylum seekers in the past 12 months. A sit-down protest by refugees
was interrupted by a small group of local youths throwing stones.
Riot police were on standby as scuffles broke out .
Refugees then marched on Glasgow City Chambers, where they took part
in another sit-down protest and symbolically handed over the keys to
their homes. They asked to meet the council leader, but went home
after being promised a meeting with housing officials today.
Last night there were appeals for calm from all sides and police said
they would substantially increase their presence in Sighthill .
The victim, who had no family in Scotland, was returning from a
restaurant in Glasgow city centre with a 16-year-old friend, also
believed to be Kurdish, at about 12:20am yesterday.
They were approached by two men in a park near Fountainwell Road and
a fight broke out. The refugees ran towards their high-rise home, but
the 22-year-old collapsed, bleeding heavily. His friend, who was
uninjured, called an ambulance but doctors at Glasgow Royal Infirmary
were unable to save the young man.
Chief Superintendent Kevin Smith reassured the refugee community that
Strathclyde Police were doing everything they could to find the
killer. He said: "This was a terrible, apparently unmotivated attack
and we are refusing to rule out racism as a motive. Our priority is
to arrest the person or persons responsible and we want to reassure
the entire community of Sighthill that we will be doing everything
possible.
"This is a tragic event; I would ask everyone in the area, regardless
of their backgrounds, to do what they can to assist us."
Aamer Anwar, an anti-racism campaigner, said: "This has been coming
for months and the police and the local authorities have known it.
Glasgow calls itself the welcoming city, but it should be ashamed of
itself."
He called for the city to unite by attending a vigil in George Square
at 3pm today - and urged refugees to avoid tit-for-tat attacks.
Mohammed Asif, a spokesman for asylum seekers, said: "This murder was
a deliberate racial attack on an asylum seeker and that is fearfully
tragic. The whole refugee community is now in state of real
fear. "But I can promise that the refugee community will not
retaliate or try to take the law into their own hands.
Norrie Gower, the chairman of Fountainwell Tenants' Association,
said: "This is a tragedy for the whole of the community. We all
thought the hatred had died down and there was a real chance everyone
could live peacefully together."
Two suspects in the murder are described as white and in their late
twenties, around five foot nine to five foot 11. One had a muscular
build with short hair and was wearing a white t-shirt. He was also
wearing cream coloured trouser, the second was of thin build and
wearing a red-hooded jacket and black trousers. Police are examining
CCTV footage
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said the authority's sympathies
were with the members of the Sighthill community. He said: "The
council is deeply shocked and we hope the person responsible is
caught quickly."
Nicola Sturgeon, the Glasgow SNP MSP said: "There is no place in
Glasgow for racial tension like we have seen elsewhere, and I would
appeal for calm from all sides."
FROM THE SCOTSMAN, 6 AUGUST 2001
------------------------------------------------
Refugees get �56,000 legal aid help
========================
Asylum seekers in Glasgow are to be given cash aid in a bid to help
fight their legal battles to remain in the country.
Glasgow City Council will provide a total of �56,000 to two city law
centres to ensure Scottish refugees have the same opportunities as
those south of the border.
In the past many refugees settled in Glasgow have had their asylum
applications rejected after they failed to receive immigration advice
in time.
The Legal Services Agency is to receive �29,000 to fight cases and
provide training together with leaflets, publications and information
packs. The remaining cash, which will be deducted from the budget
paid to the council by the National Asylum Support Service, will go
to the Ethnic Minorities Law Centre.
The aid package means asylum seekers will no longer have to attend
crucial immigration interviews alone.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board currently refuses to pay for solicitors
to be present at such meetings - unlike its English counterpart.
Instead the Scottish Board will pay for advice prior to an interview,
and give legal representation in appeals. Recent research has also
shown that advice on immigration law was only available in London.
Yet in Glasgow the number of refugees has already reached 3,500 with
up to 7,000 expected before the end of the year.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "The numbers of cases
being dispersed to Glasgow have created a huge imbalance between the
supply and demand for immigration advice.
"The lack of access to immigration advice is leading to an increasing
number of people having their asylum application rejected on the
grounds of 'non-compliance.' This usually means that they have failed
to submit evidence or returned forms within set time limits. This is
almost always linked to a failure to access immigration advice in
time."
The Home Office, which processes asylum applications, has no office
in Glasgow. This means the city's refugees are forced to travel to
Croydon, Liverpool and Leeds for interviews.
Afghani asylum seeker Mohammed Azim Amiri, an opponent of the
country's Taleban regime, had his application refused because he was
too frightened to attend his hearing without legal representation.
Mr Amiri believes his case would have turned out differently had he
been able to access legal advice.
He said: "During these interviews there is a point where a solicitor,
if present, can put forward their client's case, but this is not
happening."
Jill Stevenson
FROM THE SCOTSMAN, 6 AUGUST 2001
