AP: Italy to allow Kurds to apply for asylum

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Italy to allow Kurds to apply for asylum

October 24, 2004

ROME – Italy promised yesterday that a group of Kurdish stowaways from Turkey would get a chance to apply for asylum after being denied that right two weeks ago, the U.N. refugee agency said.

The U.N. High Commission for Refugees had earlier chastised Italy for its handling of the case. When the 13 stowaways were discovered hiding on a freighter Oct. 9, Italian authorities allegedly forced them back aboard, giving them no chance to request asylum.

The Kurds, members of a population native to Turkey and Iraq, were allowed to leave the ship at the Sicilian port of Augusta and were taken to a police station, said Laura Boldrini, a spokeswoman for the U.N. commission.

Associated Press

From:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041024/news_1n24world.html