Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.12.2013, Side 14

Politics | Asylum seekers
14The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 18 — 2013
A Gourmet Experience
- Steaks and Style at Argentina Steakhouse
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The day after his planned deportation,
Fréttablaðið newspaper published a front-
page story claiming Tony was a suspect in
a large human trafficking case in Iceland
and Evelyn, one of his supposed victims,
was pressured into falsely claiming he
was the father of her unborn child. This
information was reportedly leaked from
the Ministry of the Interior.
Tony’s lawyer, Stefán Karl Kristjáns-
son, told the Grapevine that his client
denied the trafficking allegations, which
were brought against him fourteen
months ago. The police have not pursued
the matter since, and would not comment
on whether the case was still open.
“When Tony came to Iceland he de-
clared he was seeking asylum as a refu-
gee,” Stefán said, “but the Directorate’s
answer was to send him back to Swit-
zerland [the country he came to Iceland
from] to process his asylum application.”
Stefán has sought a dismissal of this de-
portation ruling, claiming that Tony’s
application had not been processed by
Icelandic authorities, and asked that the
matter be handled with expedience, al-
lowing Tony to remain in Iceland until a
verdict had been reached.
Evelyn, who has a pending asylum
application herself, has denied being
coerced by Tony to claim anything, and
sources close to her say she had never
mentioned him with regard to her past
in Nigeria. “He is the father of my child,
he is not trafficking people,” she said in
a radio interview. She claims they met
in Iceland and she is willing to have
a paternity test to prove her expected
child is his. If that is the case, deporting
him would violate the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which Iceland ratified in February.
A troubled leak
Following the leak, one of the minis-
ter’s assistants, Gísli Freyr Valdórs-
son, sent out a couple of contradictory
press releases. First, he suggested that a
ministerial member of staff could have
privately collected and disseminated
the information. Then he retracted his
statement, saying that nothing sug-
gested inappropriate information had
come from the ministry, despite having
just confessed to newspaper DV that all
signs pointed to the leak originating
from the ministry.
Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna
Kristjánsdóttir has not made any state-
ments regarding the matter, but MP for
the Pirate Party Birgitta Jónsdóttir and
MP for the Social Democratic Alliance
Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir have re-
quested that she appear before the Con-
stitutional and Supervisory Committee
to shed light on the leak.
Meanwhile, Evelyn’s lawyer Katrín
Oddsdóttir has not requested that
Persónuvernd (“the Data Protection
Authority”) investigate the leak, but
she said she hasn’t ruled it out. “I am
baff led as to how very personal infor-
mation about my client stumbled into
the media without her knowledge or
consent,” Katrín said.
Troubled asylum seekers
Áshildur Linnet, an Icelandic Red
Cross project manager dealing with
asylum seekers and refugees, was un-
able to comment on whether the Red
Cross was aiding Evelyn and Tony, but
she informed us that the organisation
provides support to all refugees and
asylum seekers who seek it. Although
she said that the process had improved
for all involved in recent years, the sys-
tem was simply overloaded.
“Everyone involved agrees that cases
take too long, and wants to help process
applications faster,” Áshildur said.
“People live under a variety of condi-
tions, and we’ve worked to improve the
standard of life in collaboration with
the authorities. Although children and
families are given support, more could
be done in the way of social measures
for asylum seekers in general.”
Iceland does not have a good track re-
cord when it comes to handling refugees
and asylum seekers. Pia Prytz Phiri, the
UN Refugee Agency’s regional represen-
tative, deemed the protocol of jailing asy-
lum seekers upon entry unjustifiable. "It
is plainly stated that you cannot punish
refugees for illegally entering a country,"
she said, referencing the 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees. Áshil-
dur echoed Pia’s concern.
Earlier this year Ghanaian asylum
seeker Kwaku Bapi was jailed for 30 days
for travelling on falsified documents.
Whilst at the Litla Hraun maximum se-
curity prison, other prisoners reportedly
turned him into their slave, making him
wash their dishes and clean their rooms
before beating him savagely.
Even those who are not jailed upon
arrival will in all likelihood be denied
asylum. According to statistics from the
Directorate of Immigration, 93.5% of all
applications for asylum were turned down
from January 1 to September 30, with 128
of 137 applications rejected.
Whether or not the Directorate decides
to fully process Tony’s case, his lawyer Ste-
fán believes that Hanna Birna needs to
take a stance on the leak. “If she believes
her ministry’s actions have caused my cli-
ent or Evelyn any damage,” he said, “then
of course she should apologise, but if not,
then that’s that.”
It seems certain at this point that the
couple will not spend the holidays togeth-
er.
Abandon Hope All Ye
Who Enter Here
And If You Don’t, We’ll Leak Incriminating
Information About You
— By Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
While families in Iceland gather together over the
holidays, at least one couple will not have that privi-
lege. After the Ministry of the Interior decided to up-
hold the Directorate of Immigration’s ruling to deport
Nigerian asylum seeker Tony Omos on November 19,
he went into hiding and left behind his seven months
pregnant girlfriend Evelyn Glory Joseph.
“I am baffled as to how
very personal informa-
tion about my client
stumbled into the media
without her knowledge
or consent.”
Tony Omos’s story is
reminiscent of the story
of another African asy-
lum seeker who was de-
ported in July 2009.
Despite the fact that
Paul Ramses was mar-
ried with a child born in
Iceland and threats had
been made to his life for
his political activity in
Kenya, the Directorate
of Immigration denied
him asylum and escorted
him out of the country.
Activists ran onto the
runway as Paul’s plane
was taking off, but to no
avail and he was sent
to Italy. However, after
public outcry, then Min-
ister of Justice Björn
Bjarnason reversed the
Directorate’s decision
and brought Paul back
to Iceland. Paul was
eventually given a resi-
dency permit in 2010 on
humanitarian grounds.
This All Sounds
Strangely Familiar
Sigtryggur Ari
Books are one of the most popular Christmas gifts in Iceland, and almost all books published in the country are released during November and December. In
anticipation of this Jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, a catalog with all of the season’s new publications is sent to every household in Iceland. In 2013, the
catalog lists more than 700 new titles. Only about one out of every three of these books is a translation—the majority of are published by Icelandic authors.