A Refugee Letter for Global Environmental Politics - myassignmenthelp

Refugee Review Tribunal file number: This letter to your office seeks to mediate for an asylum seeker who has applied for a Protection Visa from your department. The facts and information I present in this letter might play a part in making a decision on the asylum’s application. The asylum seeker is an Afghanistan woman named Azin who arrived here in Australia by plane. My client’s reason for fleeing the Taliban is because she gave birth out of wedlock. According to 1951 United Nations Convention, a refugee can seek asylum from other nations in case of persecution (Grahl-Madsen, 1972, pp 31). Persecution refers to the act of being ill-treated or victimized especially due to certain factors such as race, religion or gender. In this case, my client is being persecuted based on her gender and having committed a ‘moral crime’.. According to the United Nations Convention a refugee considered a person who is facing persecution on the basis of his/her religion, race, and nationality or having a particular political or social opinion (Zimmerman, Dà ¶rschner and Machts, 2011, pp 81). Owing to the fear of persecution, the person opts to leave the country and is unwilling to return (Grahl-Madsen, 1972, pp 31).   Afghanistan has no respect for women’s rights. Having born a child out of wedlock, my client is subject to persecution. She will have to serve time in jail for her ‘moral crimes’. What pains the most is that her child will also be imprisoned. The Afghanistan government is not only corrupt but also dictatorial. According to a recent report, billions of dollars meant for humanitarian aid have ended up in pockets of corrupt officials. For instance, 850 the Kabul Bank Scandal is one good example of corruption in the government. A whooping 850 million dollars was lost to corrupt governmen t officials (Phillips, 2011, pp 177). In fact, the United States officials described this scandal as the biggest in history. Shockingly, all these crimes go unpunished. This shows that the Afghanistan government is not committed to ending corruption in the country. Moreover, Afghanistan is constantly in war. The war between the government and the Taliban has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians (De Lauri, 2011, pp 47). Additionally, the Afghan government has often sought the services of illegal militias who were reported to have assaulted civilians. These brutal crimes by the government forces make the country even more inhabitable especially to a woman with a young child. Moreover, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has indicated that the number of refugees from Afghanistan has increased due to the war between the government and the Taliban (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2002, pp 12) According to UNDP reports, Afghanistan has been listed among 23 of the least developed nations. More than 42 percent of the citizens live in abject poverty and the conditions in the hospitals poor. Most of the resources which could have been used for developing hospitals and other infrastructure have ended up in the pockets of few powerful individuals. Actually, there is only one doctor and two beds serving approximately 5,000 patients. This further indicates that the country lacks value for human health and life. Normally, women in Afghanistan are jailed for moral crimes including being raped (De Lauri, 2013, pp 261). Realistically, this is a brutal act. What makes things worse is that the women are sent to jail together with their children. The Afghan government has made efforts to deal with the persecution of women and recently ordered the release of the women who were jailed for ‘moral crimes’. However, the government has completely failed to end the persecution of the women who are accused of running away from the country. In short, this means that the women are required to persevere persecution and remain in the country. The Afghanistan Women Council (AWC) has played a huge role by improving the life of women. However, these efforts have been negatively affected by the lack of cooperation from the government (Afghanistan Women Council, 2012, pp 12)Some reporters have recently uncovered the gruesome acts against women that take place in the Taliban. For instance, a photograph er named Gabriela Maj in the company of her editor decided to investigate what the international media referred to as ‘moral crimes’ in the Taliban (Sinno, 2015, pp 51). They revealed that women convicted of moral crimes served time in jail together with their children. In fact, they explained that the women’s prisons sound more like kindergartens than prisons from a distance. This suggests that the number of children in the prisons is high. Immature and young, the children have to endure assault and inhumane conditions of the jails. This is contrary to what the Australian Human Rights Commission states regarding children’s rights. Because of their vulnerability, women and children command a right to special protection (McAdam and Chong, 2014, pp 441). Moreover, Maj took pictures of over one hundred women in different prisons around the Taliban. This is just one report that explains the inhumane acts. Other reports indicate that life for women in Afghanistan is becoming more difficult day by day and more deaths are being reported (Imam, 2010, pp 117). Therefore, the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection needs to consider my client’s case and give her a Protection Visa. Moreover, the woman arrived in Australia legally, by use of a plane and hence qualifies to be awarded a Protection Visa. Under the Refugee Council of Australia, refugees are entitled to several rights. Actually, there are some rights that were enacted to purposely serve the refugees. Also, other human rights treaties also acknowledge and respect these rights. To start with, refugees have the freedom of religion (McAdam and Chong, 2014, pp 441). This means that people have to respect each other’s religion so that there can be room fo r peaceful co-existence among different religions. Also, refugees have the right to education (Kirui and Mwaruvie, 2012, pp21). For instance, the Afghanistan woman should be allowed to seek for education in the Australian educational institutions. Also, the woman has the right to work anywhere in the country. Refugees should also share the same rights as the citizens. For instance, refugees should have the right to access legal assistance, own property, choose religion and own social security (Biermann and Boas, 2010, pp 60). In conclusion, I hope that the information provided above is satisfactory and will play a great role in your decision to grant the asylum a Protection Visa. Currently, Afghanistan has no respect for women’s rights. It is important for nations to respect the rights of vulnerable groups such as children and women. Given the fact that the Afghanistan government has completely failed to implement reforms which will protect the women against persecution, I hope that your department will seriously consider this woman’s case. At the moment, her well-being depends on the action your office will take. Moreover, her child’s future is at stake. Grahl-Madsen, A., 1972. The status of refugees in international law (Vol. 2). Leyden: AW Sijthoff. McAdam, J. and Chong, F., 2014. Complementary protection in Australia two years on: An emerging human rights jurisprudence. Fed. L. Rev., 42, p.441. Zimmermann, A., Dà ¶rschner, J. and Machts, F., 2011.  The 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol: A commentary. Oxford University Press. Biermann, F. and Boas, I., 2010. Preparing for a warmer world: Towards a global governance system to protect climate refugees.  Global environmental politics,  10(1), pp.60-88. Kirui, P. and Mwaruvie, J., 2012. The dilemma of hosting refugees: a focus on the insecurity in north-eastern Kenya.  International Journal of Business and Social Science,  3(8). Phillips, D., 2011. Wounded Memory of Hazara Refugees from Afghanistan Remembering and Forgetting Persecution.  History Australia,  8(2), pp.177-198. De Lauri, A., 2011. Afghanistan: corruption and injustice in the judicial system.  Journal of Law and Social Research,  2(1), pp.47-62. De Lauri, A., 2013. Access to justice and human rights in Afghanistan.  Crime, law and social change,  60(3), pp.261-285. Imam, H. (2010). Aftermath of U.S. Invasions: The Anguish of Women in Afghanistan and Iraq. Women, War, and Violence, 117-134. doi:10.1057/9780230111974_8 Afghanistan Women Council. (2012). Afghanistan Women Council (AWC)/Annual report / Afghanistan Women Council (AWC). The journal of Humanitarian Assistance. doi:10.2458/azu_acku_serial_hq1735_6_a392_v2002 Sinno, A. (2015). 10. The Organizational Theory beyond Afghanistan. Organizations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond. doi:10.7591/9780801459306-014 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2002: Note on the Applicability of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees to Palestinian refugees. Int J Refugee Law; 14 (2_and_3): 450-456. doi: 10.1093/ijrl/14.2_and_3.450