Canada's asylum fiasco

[CHIMO]

Canadians are rolling their eyes at the latest oddity to emerge from their confused, clogged immigration system: a white South African admitted as a refugee because he claimed he was being persecuted by black people.

His lawyer says the case sets a precedent, which it well might, although it's difficult to pin down exactly what it is. Brandon Huntley, a 31-year-old lawn sprinkler salesman who came to Canada on a work visa in 2006 and stayed illegally, told the Immigration and Refugee Board that he had been mugged and stabbed seven times by black people in his home country. He didn't report the attacks to the "untrustworthy" police.

A Canadian refugee board member agreed that Huntley deserved asylum, saying he would "stand out like a sore thumb" in South Africa because of his skin colour and would be unable to find a job because of affirmative action favouring black people. (The official unemployment rate for South African white people is in fact 4.6% compared to 27.9% for black people.)

South Africa's 4 million white people make up 10% of its population. For all that they are unlikely to pack up and move to Vancouver this week, the South African government, in particular its human rights commission, is furious at Canada, once a bastion of the fight against apartheid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/sep/03/white-south-african-canada-asylum

Slow. But perhaps fine?

[HeresyLives]

1. Govt is appealing this one.

As well they should.

[TimesSqCowboy]

2. On the other hand, if you are Canadian and African the odds seem to be

that if you leave Canada you won't get back in. I'm guessing you know the story of the woman who was accused of being a fraud by Knyan officials when she tried to return from there to Canada because she didn't look like her passport photo; the canadian consulate agreed with the kenyans and asked kenya to seize her passport and prosecute her for fraud, which they did. This continued despite the fact that she and her family produced all kinds of documentation that she had lived in Canada for years. She had a DNA test done, which proved she was the mother of her 12 yo boy back in Canada and Canada changed its position and allowed her to return.

[Grey]

3. Steve Harper is an Idiot!

I can't think why anyone would vote for him.