Tuesday June 22, 2010
With Refuge Like This…
David Cronin
Inter Press Service
Habtom, a 30-year-old Eritrean, has all the grim qualifications needed to be a refugee. He was arrested for protesting a dictatorship, tortured in custody, and fears his life would be at risk if he returned home. Another part of his story is also typical: he suffered lengthy detention in a European Union nominally committed to the universal defence of human rights.
Four years ago Habtom (not his real name) fled to Malta. It would take 11 months before the island's officials interviewed him and became aware of how he had taken part in student demonstrations against his government in 2001 and how he had subsequently been jailed and beaten for daring to question his commanders while he was a military conscript.
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Posted in: by bubblejam at 01:35 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry