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Amnesty blasts Norwegian authorities for
deporting Syrian Kurd
19.1.2007
By John Peder Egenæs of Amnesty Norway |
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Norwegian diplomats were
scrambling to investigate claims that a man expelled
from Norway was now imprisoned and
possibly being tortured in Syria.
January 19, 2007
Yassin Suleiman, a Syrian Kurd, was sent back to his
homeland after the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE)
was unconvinced he needed protection in Norway.
Amnesty International has now begun an emergency
action aimed at Norwegian authorities, only the
second time Norway has been the target of such an
effort.
"We believe the Norwegian authorities have a
concrete responsibility to protect Suleiman since he
was deported from here," said John Peder Egenæs,
acting secretary general of Amnesty Norway, who said
that an immediate reaction from Norway to the Syrian
authorities was necessary to avoid a breach of
international refugee law.
Suleiman, his wife and daughter were expelled and
sent with police escort back to Syria in November
2006. On Dec. 21 Suleiman was called in by police in
Syria. He and his father went in and they have not
been seen since, Amnesty said.
The Norwegian embassy in Damascus has been mobilized
as a matter of routine when a person is expelled
from Norway, according to Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (UD) press spokesman Bjørn Jahnsen.
"We are aware of this matter. We don't know what has
happened with Suleiman but we are working intensely
to find out," Jahnsen said. He would not divulge
details on how Norwegian diplomats were proceeding
due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The UNE would not admit that their decision to
deport Suleiman was wrong. In a letter to news
agency NTB the UNE said they had no information
about what had happened to Suleiman, or whether his
situation was due to something that had occurred
after he had left Norway.
"We demand that Norwegian authorities make speedy
progress in this matter and do whatever they can, at
once, to find out what has happened to Yassin
Suleiman in Syria.
Our impression is that Norwegian authorities have
not reacted swiftly enough in this matter," Egenæs
said, and emphasized that there is a great danger
that Suleiman will be tortured now that he is
imprisoned.
"At this moment tens of thousands of Amnesty members
around the world are receiving a message urging them
to contact the UD, the Ministry of Labor and Social
Inclusion, and UNE director Terje Sjeggestad,"
Egenæs said.
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