Amnesty Blasts Norwegian Authorities for
Deporting Syrian Kurd
Aftenposten Norway
By John Peder Egenæs of
Amnesty Norway
January 19, 2007
Yassin Suleiman, a Syrian Kurd, was sent back to his homeland after the
Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) was unconvinced he needed protection in Norway.
Amnesty International has now begun an emergency action aimed at Norwegian
authorities, only the second time Norway has been the target of such an effort.
"We believe the Norwegian authorities have a concrete responsibility to protect
Suleiman since he was deported from here," said John Peder Egenæs, acting
secretary general of Amnesty Norway, who said that an immediate reaction from
Norway to the Syrian authorities was necessary to avoid a breach of
international refugee law.
Suleiman, his wife and daughter were expelled and sent with police escort back
to Syria in November 2006. On Dec. 21 Suleiman was called in by police in Syria.
He and his father went in and they have not been seen since, Amnesty said.
The Norwegian embassy in Damascus has been mobilized as a matter of routine when
a person is expelled from Norway, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD)
press spokesman Bjørn Jahnsen.
"We are aware of this matter. We don't know what has happened with Suleiman but
we are working intensely to find out," Jahnsen said. He would not divulge
details on how Norwegian diplomats were proceeding due to the sensitivity of the
matter.
The UNE would not admit that their decision to deport Suleiman was wrong. In a
letter to news agency NTB the UNE said they had no information about what had
happened to Suleiman, or whether his situation was due to something that had
occurred after he had left Norway.
"We demand that Norwegian authorities make speedy progress in this matter and do
whatever they can, at once, to find out what has happened to Yassin Suleiman in
Syria.
Our impression is that Norwegian authorities have not reacted swiftly enough in
this matter," Egenæs said, and emphasized that there is a great danger that
Suleiman will be tortured now that he is imprisoned.
"At this moment tens of thousands of Amnesty members around the world are
receiving a message urging them to contact the UD, the Ministry of Labor and
Social Inclusion, and UNE director Terje Sjeggestad," Egenæs said.
