Political Asylum

When Simon Sheppard and Stephen Whittle stepped off a plane at LAX in July 2008 -- a couple of jet-lagged Brits on the lam from the United Kingdom -- they looked for the first uniformed U.S. official they could find. Unfortunately for them, they found one. They thought they had found safe harbor from the English court that three days earlier had convicted them of hate-related writings originating on their website.

Former Somalia President Abdullahi Yusuf arrived in Sana, Yemen, on a private jet and sought political asylum, officials said. The 75-year-old former warlord resigned in December after a series of public quarrels with his prime minister. An aide said it was possible that Yusuf could return to Somalia or move to a third country, such as the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

Salam knew the risks. As a Christian in Iraq, he already faced persecution by extremist Muslim insurgents. Working for the U.S. military placed him in even more danger. But the contract his family's company had to supply water for the U.S. base at Ramadi was lucrative. Salam also respected the Americans for helping the Iraqi people and wanted to support the effort. On Feb. 1, 2006, Salam was leaving the base, beginning his seven-hour drive home after 17 days away.

Singing "We Shall Overcome" and "God Bless America," a small group of North Korean refugees staged a rally in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday to appeal for public support in their quest for political asylum. Standing in front of the building at Olive and 6th streets that houses the U.S. Immigration Court, a dozen refugees who risked their lives to flee their homeland said they would have nowhere to go if the United States rejected their appeal.

In a surprise decision welcomed by human rights groups, the Justice Department moved Monday to expand the opportunities for asylum for women subjected to genital mutilation. Atty. Gen. Michael B. Mukasey, a former federal judge, threw out a decision by an arm of the Justice Department denying asylum to a 28-year-old woman from Mali who had been subjected to genital mutilation as a girl.

After being beaten and tortured by the Sri Lankan army, Ahilan Nadarajah fled his native country in 2001. He sought asylum in Immigration Court here and won, twice. But because of secret evidence accusing him of being a terrorist, the U.S. government kept him behind bars and then on an electronic monitor. Seven years after his arrival, Nadarajah's ordeal is finally coming to an end. Late last week, the U.S.

The number of Iraqis applying for asylum in other countries dropped by 10% in the first half of 2008, which may be because of improved security in their homeland, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday. About 19,500 Iraqis applied for asylum during the first six months, compared with 21,400 in the same period last year, according to a report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

For Ramiz Kamil, it was the car bomb that finally pushed him into his life's most momentous decision: leaving his beloved Iraqi homeland for a new and uncertain life as a refugee in Southern California. He and his family had endured growing travails since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A former prime minister of Guinea-Bissau sought asylum at the local United Nations office, three days after he accused the tiny African nation's president of murder. Guinea-Bissau's interior minister had earlier issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr. The order followed allegations by Gomes that President Joao Bernardo Vieira was behind the assassination of a former military commander last week. U.N. officials in the country were not available for comment.

The Bush administration on Thursday announced changes in the way it applies war-on-terrorism laws that have been used to prevent thousands of asylum-seekers and refugees from gaining entry to the United States. The laws deny entry to anyone who has provided terrorist groups with "material support" -- which could mean anything from a bowl of rice to live ammunition -- and also apply to those coerced into providing support.