Siskind's Immigration Bulletin - February 2000

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TANZANIAN NURSE SEEKS ASYLUM TO AVOID FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

Margareth Awiti, a Tanzanian national, came to the US in 1996 on a visitor visa and later applied for asylum. She claims that if she is returned to Tanzania she will be forced to marry the nephew of her late husband, and then will be forced to submit to female circumcision. Her asylum hearing is scheduled for later this spring.

She is facing an uphill battle in the Immigration Court. The judge who will hear her application has previously rejected an asylum claim based on female circumcision, a decision that was reversed on appeal. Also, the INS is expending great effort to counter her claims. The agency is seeking experts to dispute her description of what will happen upon her return to Tanzania, and is also seeking family members who will give negative testimony about Awiti’s character.

Asylum cases based on female circumcision are relatively rare, but are growing more common. The procedure, which is also known by a more graphic name – female genital mutilation – is performed in unsanitary conditions and causes the women who are subjected to it a lifetime of pain and medical problems.

INS PROPOSES USING PRIVATE CONTRACTOR TO REVIEW EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION

EFFORT TO MAKE VISA APPLICATIONS EASIER FOR CUBANS ALMOST THWARTED

SISKIND'S IMMIGRATION BULLETIN