Ethiopian Refugees Help Catch Their Persecutors

by Jason Dzubow

In the Ethiopian-American community, at long last, the hunters have become the hunted. 

Members of the community have created a new website to share information and help bring to justice Ethiopian human rights abusers living in the United States. The founders of the website, called YaTewlid (meaning “The Generation”), are themselves torture survivors. They have been inspired by a few recent prosecutions of Ethiopian human rights abusers in the United States.

The most recent case involved a high-ranking prison guard during the time of the Red Terror in Ethiopia (1977-78). Earlier this month, Kefelgn Alemu Worku was convicted of immigration fraud after he entered the U.S. using a false name and lied about his background. According to the Denver Post, those who witnessed against him testified that Mr. Kefelgn tortured and murdered hundreds of prisoners, including one witnesses’ best friend. Mr. Kefelgn faces up to 22 years in prison (for the fraud) and then deportation to Ethiopia where, presumably, he would not receive a friendly reception.

Kefelgn Alemu Worku proves that time wounds all heels.
Kefelgn Alemu Worku proves that time wounds all heels.

As an aside, Mr. Kefelgn’s case demonstrates why the various immigration forms ask questions like, Are you a persecutor? or Have you ever committed a crime? On their face, the questions seems silly–what self-respecting persecutor would admit that he was a persecutor? The U.S. government does not necessarily expect persecutors and criminals to admit their misdeeds (though that would be nice). Rather, if the government discovers evidence that the alien is a persecutor, it is a lot easier to prosecute him for immigration fraud than for the actual crimes he committed in his country. And that is exactly what happened to Mr. Kefelgn. He was prosecuted not for his war crimes, but instead for his immigration fraud (this reminds me of how the government prosecuted Al Capone for tax evasion rather than murder). 

As of this writing, the YaTewlid website is only in Amharic, but its founders hope to have an English version in the future. I had an Amharic-speaking friend check it out. She reports that the website needs some work, but it will potentially be a useful tool for uncovering human rights abusers living in the U.S.

It seems to me that DHS/ICE would do well to talk to groups such as YaTewlid, since the people best able to ferret out criminals (and fraudsters) are members of the various immigrant communities. 

Indeed, ICE does have a special unit, called the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit (HRVWCU – though I think they need a more sexy acronym), which is part of the National Security Investigations Division. According to its website, HRVWCU–

conducts investigations focused on human rights violations in an effort to prevent the United States from becoming a safe haven to those individuals who engage in the commission of war crimes, genocide, torture, and other forms of serious human rights abuses from conflicts around the globe.

The unit has had its fair share of successes. Again, from the website:

Since fiscal year 2004, ICE has arrested more than 250 individuals for human rights-related violations under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE has denied more than 117 individuals from obtaining entry visas to the United States and created more than 20,000 subject records, which prevented identified human-rights violators from attempting to enter the United States. In addition, ICE successfully obtained deportation orders to physically remove more than 590 known or suspected human rights violators from the United States. Currently, ICE is pursuing more than 1,900 leads and removal cases that involve suspected human rights violators from nearly 96 different countries.

The efforts of HRVWCU are crucial to preventing human rights abusers from taking advantage of our immigration and asylum systems, and to protecting the integrity of those systems. The cooperation of community groups such as YaTewlid is also crucial to this effort.

It is in the interest of everyone–government, immigrant groups, and “the system”– to find, punish, and deport human rights abusers. Only in this way can we provide some justice for the victims and keep the door open to legitimate refugees who need our protection.

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Ethiopian Asylum Seekers Die Along the Smuggling Route

by Jason Dzubow

I’ve written a number of times about the route East African asylum seekers take to reach the United States.  The journey usually takes them through Africa to South Africa, and then to South America, Central America, and finally the U.S.  Along the way, the asylum seekers are passed from one smuggler to the next.  Because I deal with the people who make it here, I don’t usually think about those who do not survive the trip.

Voice of America reports that on February 2, eight Ethiopian asylum seekers suffocated to death in a closed container truck while attempting to reach South Africa:

The UN refugee agency [UNHCR] said the Ethiopian asylum seekers had been living in the Maratane refugee camp in northern Mozambique, from where they embarked on their ill-fated journey.  The driver of the truck in which they were traveling reportedly only realized the eight had suffocated when he made a stop at Mocuba, after seven hours of driving from the camp.

Statistics on asylum seeker deaths are hard to come by, so the magnitude of the problem is not well known, but I’d venture to guess that the number of deaths is quite high.  I sometimes hear anecdotal evidence from my clients about this problem.  For example, an Eritrean client recently told me about two Eritrean women who drowned while crossing a swamp in Panama.  I could not find statistics for asylum seekers coming to the U.S., but I did find some information about Britain and Australia:

The New Statesman report that 77 asylum seekers died in Great Britain during the last four years: Of the deaths, more than a third (28) were suicides following rejected asylum claims. Seven people died after being denied healthcare for “preventable medical problems.” Seven more died in police custody, while 15 lost their lives during “highly risky” attempts to enter the country. Seven were killed in racist street attacks, four after deportation to a country where they feared for their safety, two as a result of destitution, and four because they had been forced into dangerous work in the black economy. 

A website called Abolish Foreignness reports that between 2000 and 2010, 1,053 asylum seekers died in Australia or en route to that country.  The majority of the deaths were from people drowned at sea.

It is probably impossible to know how many asylum seekers die on the long and dangerous journey to the United States.  But it is clear that, despite the risk, many people are willing to make the trip.  

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Refugee Success Stories

by Jason Dzubow

The largest group of asylum seekers in the Washington, DC area–and the majority of my asylum cases–are from Ethiopia, so a recent story in the Washington Post caught my attention (ok, it actually caught my wife’s attention and she emailed it to me, so she gets credit for this one).  Henok Tesfaye is an Ethiopian immigrant who started his own very-successful parking business, U Street Parking.  In some ways, Mr. Henok’s story is typical of Ethiopian immigrants and asylees that I see my daily work.  Also, his story points to some universal lessons in refugee (and immigrant) resettlement and integration.

Mr. Henok’s story is typical because he came here at a young age with little money and few contacts, but with a strong desire to achieve success.  Many of the refugees I have met (and represented) have suffered severe traumas.  Nonetheless, they are optimistic people.  They have left the past behind and have come to the United States to build their future.  They come here with the same attitude as their predecessors, be they Puritans in search of religious liberty, Russian Jews fleeing the Cossacks, or Vietnamese boat people escaping a Communist regime.  Of course they sometimes carry with them baggage from the old country–traditions that don’t always square with American values can be a problem–and they usually don’t speak fluent English.  But the refugees I have known generally contributed greatly to our community.  It is impressive that such people, who arrive here with so little, are able to accomplish so much.

Mr. Henok’s story also points to some of the challenges faced by refugees (and immigrants) in the United States.  He was struggling until he finally obtained a loan from the Ethiopian Community Development Counsel, an organization that assists new Ethiopian arrivals in the Washington, DC area:

ECDC serves as a welcoming presence as well as a bridge for dialogue and education. Through our programs, ECDC seeks to empower African newcomers; giving hope for their future and helping them quickly become self-sufficient, productive members of their communities in their new homeland.

Groups like ECDC make it possible for refugees and immigrants to adjust more quickly to the United States.  Not all refugees have community-based groups they can turn to, but there are resources available, such as the Catholic Legal Immigration Network and the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society.

Our country has a generous policy towards refugees and asylum seekers.  We should be proud that we help people fleeing persecution.  At the same time, however, we should remember that the refugees and immigrants who come here have helped enrich our nation.  Mr. Henok reminds us that this is true.

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