Canadian Judge Accused of Sleeping Through Hearings

 A Canadian refugee-tribunal judge has been accused of falling asleep during hearings. “Justice can be blind, but it’s not supposed to be asleep,” says Richard Kurland, a lawyer and immigration policy researcher. Appeals have been filed over denials of refugee status made by Najib Tahiri based on the argument that he fell asleep during hearings, making it impossible for him the aptly judge a case. The appeals stated that Mr. Tahiri was silent for extended periods of time and appeared to be asleep. In a federal court it was ruled that long periods of silence are not sufficient proof that Najib Tahiri was in fact asleep. However, new hearings were ordered anyway.

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90 Nigerians Deported from US, Italy 

At least 90 Nigerians have been deported from Italy and the US in the past week for violating immigration laws. The Nigerian government, cautious of global views on human trafficking and prostitution, has claimed that the female deportees were not prostitutes, and that many of the deportees were simply in violation of minor immigration laws.

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Detainees Being Sold 

The Straits Times of Singapore is reporting that some temporary detention camps for illegal immigrants have begun the practice of selling their detainees to plantations or poultry farms to save costs associated with deportation. The report comes at a time when Indonesian legislators have been critical of Malaysian enforcement officers, calling them corrupt. 

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Pakistanis Pose as Afghans for Refugee Claims

 The Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence has uncovered a scam whereby Pakistanis are posing as Afghans to get approved for refugee status. It is believed that as many as half the boat people arriving in Australia claiming to be Afghans, could in fact be Pakistanis with forged documents. Authorities believe that Pakistanis are posing as illiterate Afghan farmers to avoid in-depth questioning. Furthermore authorities believe the Pakistanis paid for brief trips to Afghanistan to improve their accents, knowledge of the area and to have pictures taken to use as proof of nationality. The scam was uncovered when angry members of Afghan communities in Australia began to complain. 

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