15984: (Hermantin) Sun Sentinel-U.S. refugee policy slammed (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

U.S. refugee policy slammed



By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Washington correspondent

June 19, 2003

WASHINGTON · Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the United States of
locking up unaccompanied refugee children under jailhouse conditions that
violate standards for the treatment of people fleeing persecution.

In a report based on a survey of and visits to detention centers and
interviews with detainees and lawyers, the human rights group charged that
hundreds of young refugees, mostly teenagers, are treated like criminals
although they have broken no laws.

"It's hard to imagine the American government subjecting children to this
kind of treatment," said William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty
International USA. "Much of the treatment violates international human
rights law and subjects the children to deprivation, if not outright abuse."

Amnesty said it found that refugees were often mingled with juvenile
offenders, and that many were subjected to such harsh measures as shackling,
strip searches and solitary confinement. The government frequently failed to
provide social services or access to legal aid, the group said.

The number of unaccompanied minors detained after seeking to enter the
United States claiming persecution or mistreatment in their home countries
has more than doubled in recent years, reaching 5,385 in 2001.

The refugees can be held in shelters or in secure facilities, and Amnesty
said about one-third are in detention centers designed for juvenile
offenders.

In Florida, unaccompanied children may start out their detention at a
subcontracted hotel in Miami-Dade County, where they are not permitted to go
outside. Those detained for long periods are usually transferred to the
Boystown unit, a youth detention center in southwest Miami-Dade, which often
reaches its capacity of 35.

Lisa Frydman, who represents unaccompanied minors on behalf of the nonprofit
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, expressed several concerns. Children,
regardless of their education level, age, or skill set, are taught in the
same class during their stay, she said.

"And whenever there are children who are not Haitian, Spanish speakers or
Chinese, they are completely isolated at Boystown because nobody can speak
their language," Frydman said.

After years of hit-or-miss efforts by the government to improve conditions,
a Health and Human Services Department official said the Bush administration
is determined to carry out reforms.

Health and Human Services inherited the refugee children program from
immigration authorities on March 1, after Congress decided a social service
agency was better suited for the task than law enforcement.

Amnesty's investigation was carried out before the transfer to HHS, but many
of the same facilities and policies are still in use.

Horn said HHS has reduced the number of children in secure facilities,
increased the number of shelter and foster care beds for them, reduced the
proportion of children in secure facilities and is expanding a list of
lawyers who can help the refugees. "We are in a transition phase," he said.

Frydman said the Department of Homeland Security has continued to thwart
improvements since the March reorganization, which is falling particularly
heavily on Haitian children. Although the government has approved releases
for unaccompanied Haitian minors, it generally holds to a controversial
policy of detaining adult Haitians who arrive by boat throughout their court
proceedings, which can last months or even years.

Frydman said a Haitian client of hers who arrived on an overcrowded refugee
boat on Oct. 29 was fearful of being sent to the local adult unit, the Krome
detention center, on his 18th birthday

"[The Office of Refugee Resettlement] and his caseworker at Boystown did a
bang-up job in getting a foster care placement in Michigan. He was really
excited about that," Frydman said. "The Department of Homeland Security
basically refused to give him the release papers he needed."

Recently, the young man turned 18 and was taken to Krome, she said.

She said two Haitian children from the same boat have been unable to win
release because Homeland Security officials have labeled them as accompanied
because they came with older siblings who are being held at adult
facilities.

Barbara Gonzalez, Miami spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security,
said she would need more time to research the concerns raised.



Staff Writer Tanya Weinberg contributed to this report. Ricardo
Alonso-Zaldivar writes for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Co. newspaper.


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail