Co-worker Protest Helps Prevent Refugee's Deportation

An asylum seeker just hours from being deported has won the right to stay in Britain permanently, thanks to the success of a protest staged by his co-workers.

Luli Zefaj, 25, a Kosovo Albanian, fled his home country five years ago after being shot for refusing to fight in his country's civil war. He applied for asylum in Britain and started a new life there, taking English classes and working.

Last year, during a routine visit to the immigration office in Dover to sort out his paperwork, officials said their documentation showed that he had absconded and was in the country illegally. Zefaj was placed in a detention center and was told he would be deported to Albania within 48 hours.

With little time to spare, his coworkers organized a high-profile campaign, writing letters and assembling at Gatwick airport. Shortly before he was to be flown out, officials released Zefaj into the care of his colleagues at Digital Dream, a digital camera supplier based in Dover.

Zefaj's asylum bid was rejected, but an appeals panel ruled that he should be allowed to remain in Britain permanently because he had built a settled life for himself.

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26 Nigerians Drown Off Moroccan Coast

Twenty-six Nigerians drowned in the Atlantic Ocean off the Moroccan coast earlier this year while attempting to enter Europe illegally, Nigerian Ambassador to Morocco Ladan Shuni said Wednesday. The incident was another in a series of fatal crossings from northern Africa; hundreds of Nigerians die annually attempting to cross the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea in hopes of reaching Europe and America. Among those who perished in this most recent tragedy was an entire family of four.

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South Korea: Dramatic Increase In Number Of Illegal Immigrants

Last week South Korea's Ministry of Justice reported that the number of illegal immigrants in the country has risen 530 percent since 1991, when the government first began to compile statistics. Ten years ago, there were 41,900 illegal aliens in the nation, compared to 289,100 last November. The ministry also said that nearly 25% of the population, or 13.6 million, traveled overseas last year.

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Church Group Calls For Release Of Australia's Detained Asylum Seekers

The National Council of Churches of Australia (NCCA) has added its voice to a drive orchestrated by refugee advocates asking the parliament to set free 1,000 asylum seekers now being held in detention centers. The detainees have already taken health, identity and security checks. The NCCA also calls for 8,000 Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) holders to be granted permanent residency.

"It is well documented that 70 percent to 80 percent of refugees have suffered trauma or torture," said NCCA national refugee advocacy officer James Thomson. "Detention compounds that and then when they are released on TPV, it prevents them from settling in the community and getting on with a normal life."