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Liberty Denied: Women’s Commission Calls

New York, NY

The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children is gravely concerned that the Bush Administration’s new order to detain asylum seekers from 34 countries plus the Occupied Territories throughout the processing of their asylum claims is discriminatory and a violation of human rights. The administration’s order, issued last night as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s new Operation Liberty Shield, would undermine the basic principles upon which the United States was founded and would do little to further homeland security.

"The United States has said that part of our urgent need to go to war is to protect Iraqi citizens," says Wendy Young, Director of U.S. Programs, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, "And yet Operation Liberty Shield flies in the face of this stated aim by imprisoning Iraqis — as well as those fleeing persecution from 33 other countries—who have come to the United States seeking what we claim to protect: liberty and freedom."

The 34 countries to which Operation Liberty Shield would apply include refugee-producing countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan. Those affected by this new policy are often victims of human rights abuses in these countries, many of which the United States has criticized for their repressive regimes.

Young adds, "Most asylum seekers arrive in the United States having fled armed conflict and human rights abuses; many see the United States as their last hope for freedom and survival. Operation Liberty Shield sends a disturbing signal to the rest of the world and reflects poorly on a country that prides itself on its respect for human rights."

In addition to being discriminatory, this new policy would eliminate the discretion DHS officers currently have to release asylum seekers who prove that they have credible fear of persecution. This would further undermine the United States’ longstanding policy of protection for asylum seekers and could cause them additional harm.

"There is no question that DHS’s primary mandate of reducing terrorism is a critical national priority, but one very different from our commitment to providing safe haven for refugees, which defines us as a nation and makes us unique," says Young. "By imprisoning asylum seekers from 34 countries out of hand, Operation Liberty Shield brings U.S. policies dangerously close to those issued by the repressive regimes from which asylum seekers flee."