Free Republic

How I love and admire Switzerland. Now more than ever. A vast majority of the Swiss people, 78.5%, have yesterday voted in a referendum, approving the amendments to further restrict the asylum law in the country. All cantons of the confederation have been in favour. "A big disappointment" commented the result Adèle Thorens, co-chairman of the Greens. "We did not expect to win, but we did not expect a similar result." That the Greens are disappointed is a measure of how good the changes are, at least in relation to the rest of Europe. The amendments to the asylum...

The jailed doctor who helped the U.S. track down Usama bin Laden was convicted by a tribal court on bogus charges, according to a classified Pakistani government report. Portions of the voluminous 357-page Abbottobad Commission Report, which has yet to be made public and were obtained exclusively by Fox News, acknowledge Dr. Shakil Afridi’s conviction last year by a government-sponsored Jirga has undermined Pakistan’s credibility. The report calls for Afridi to be given a new trial.

A U.S. appeals court sided with the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday and denied asylum for the Romeikes. They fled from Germany after they were threatened with the possibility of losing custody of their children when they decided to homeschool and refused to send their children to the German public schools. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the Justice Department, in Romeike vs. Holder, that the freedom to homeschool one's children is not among the fundamental rights protected for asylum seekers. The Home School Legal Defense Association, which represented the Romeikes in the case, said it will appeal...

Senator Marco Rubio, the leading Republican behind the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform proposal, has often challenged those who criticize the bill to come up with ways to improve it. And not just his fellow lawmakers; Rubio has opened a new page on his Senate website asking for help from the public. “Visit our website and submit your ideas to ‘Help Us Improve the Bill,’” says an announcement from Rubio’s office Friday. “Since the immigration legislation was introduced, Rubio has received over 1,100 suggestions for how to improve the bill. Rubio encourages the public to continue reviewing the bill...

Welfare Terrorist: Tamerlan Tsarnaev stylin' with his Mercedes and iPhone - all on the taxpayer's dime. 'Aint the U.S. "asylum" system great?- Americans are disgusted with everything to do with the late Chechen Muslim terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev. They are enraged by the innocent victims he slaughtered and maimed in Boston last week. They are outraged by how their own government let him slip through their fingers, despite repeated warnings. And now we have the last thing we need : yet another outrage about the Boston jihad leader: he was on welfare.That's right, the Boston Marathon bombings mastermind was living on...

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon killing spree by foreign-born jihadists, see-no-evil bureaucrats in Washington are stubbornly defending America's lax asylum policies. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano told the Senate Tuesday that the screening process is rigorous, effective and extensive. These people can't handle the truth. Or tell it. The Tsarnaev brothers reportedly were granted asylum by "derivative" status through their parents. After entering on short-term tourist visas, the mother and father (an ethnic Chechen Muslim) won asylum and acquired U.S. citizenship. Next, younger son Dzhokhar obtained U.S. citizenship. Older son Tamerlan, whose naturalization application was pending, traveled freely between...

US Wants to Deport Christian Family By Julio Severo The US government is contesting a court decision that had granted asylum to a homeschooling family from Germany. US officials argue that the German Christian family, who were suffering religious persecution from German officials, should be deported back to Germany. The Romeike family Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled Germany in 2008 after authorities fined them thousands in euros and forcibly took their children because they homeschool. In 2010, a U.S. immigration judge granted the Romeikes political asylum — the first time this status was granted based on compulsory schooling laws. The...

The second season of American Horror Story, entitled American Horror Story: Asylum premiers tonight on the FX channel at 10/9c. Several of the actors from last season will be returning, but in different roles. Go to the official website for more information.Wikipedia article

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange plans to address a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly via a videolink from his hideout at Ecuador's London embassy, seeking to draw new attention to his efforts to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crimes allegations. Ecuador's mission to the United Nations said Tuesday that Assange was scheduled to speak Wednesday alongside foreign minister Ricardo Patino at a specially convened event to discuss his asylum case. The Australian activist is seeking to avoid extradition to Sweden for questioning over sex crimes allegations and has been sheltered inside Ecuador's...

Sweden’s Minister of Social Affairs calls Assange a ”coward” and a ”pitiful wretch” Publicerat den 17 augusti 2012 kl 01:29 This Tuesday, Sweden’s Minister of Social Affairs Göran Hägglund called Wikileaks founder Julian Assange a ”coward” and a ”pitiful wretch”. He added that Assange is a ”scumbag” if the accusations against him are true. When news broke on Tuesday that Ecuador intended to grant Julian Assange’s request for asylum, Sweden’s Minister of Social Affairs Göran Hägglund sent the following Twitter message: ”Sick. A coward who does not dare to have his case tried by the court. If the accusations against...

The dramatic development came two months after Mr Assange suddenly walked into the embassy in a bid to avoid being extradited to Sweden where he faces allegations of sexual assault. Ecuador's minister for foreign affairs, Ricardo Patino, released details of a letter he said was delivered through a British embassy official in Quito, and said that the Ecuadorian government would announce on Thursday whether it would give Mr Assange asylum. The letter said: "You need to be aware that there is a legal base in the UK, the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987, that would allow us to take...

Film directors, authors, journalists and socialites who raised £200,000 to secure Julian Assange bail face losing thousands after the WikiLeaks founder breached his bail.

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuador's foreign minister says Wilikeaks chief Julian Assange has taken refuge in the South American nation's embassy in London and is seeking political asylum. Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino says Ecuador is weighing the request.

Fatal mistake: Chinese pro-life activist seeking help from US government American authorities deceive Chinese activist and deliver him to the den of Chinese communist lions By Julio Severo Chen Guangcheng, a pro-life activist in China, made the fatal mistake of seeking help from the US Embassy in China. Chen Guangcheng He was under house arrest in his home province, but other human rights activists made enormous sacrifices, risking their lives to elaborate a plan for him to flee to the US Embassy, where everyone thought refuge was guaranteed. Everyone hoped he would ask for asylum, but the developments, unfolding in...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House is sidestepping questions about how the U.S. might resolve the predicament surrounding a blind Chinese activist who sought refuge in the American embassy and who no longer wants to remain China. White House spokesman Jay Carney referred questions about asylum for the activist, Chen Guangcheng, to the State Department.

Building on pro-gay policies put in place by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama today ordered overseas federal agencies to fight local anti-gay violence and provide asylum to homosexuals seeking protection. Obama said, "I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world -- whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation." >>SNIP<< "There is no question that the administration's record of advancing equality for LGBT people has been enhanced by the leadership...

What does it take to be a crime reporter in the murder capital of the world? Everything, says Irma Londono. For 17 years, Irma Londono did her part to uncover the truth about drug trafficking in Colombia. As a journalist, Londono disregarded comments that women did not belong in her field, endured challenges to her credibility from corrupt officials and even survived a kidnapping from guerilla rebels. But when threats against her life escalated, the award-winning journalist heeded her mother’s advice and fled to the United States as a political refugee, leaving her family, friends and career behind. “I am...

Diplomatic safe sex: No US asylum to Saudi gay By Julio Severo A homosexual from Saudi Arabia had his asylum request denied by the Obama administration. The Jerusalem Post reported that Ali Ahmad Asseri “argued that if he returned to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia he would face execution because the country’s radically fundamental form of Islam mandates the death penalty for same-sex relations.” Reportedly, the Obama administration denied the asylum to “avoid disrupting US-Saudi relations”. Annoying wasps is less dangerous than annoying a Muslim nation! Is not the Obama administration the most radically pro-sodomy government in the US and...

LABOR may have finally bounced off rock bottom but Australia's oldest political party and its leader are still facing a historic loss of public confidence and electoral failure. A three-point rise in the Newspoll primary vote for the ALP has avoided the unthinkable for the Gillard government of going to 25 per cent or below to have less support than the combined vote for the Greens and various odds and sods, but the broader view of this survey of public opinion about Labor - as well as the personal standing of Julia Gillard - is devastating. The electorate has not...

<p>The daughter-in-law of a slain Mexican activist and her son have been granted asylum in the United States, her attorney said.</p> <p>The El Paso (Texas) Times reported Monica Arias Hernandez, 33, and her 6-year-old son, Eduardo Alejandro Frayre Arias, had requested asylum in March and received it in late August. (SNIP) Arias Hernandez's attorney, Carlos Spector, called the decision to grant her asylum "a great victory that shows the entire world that there are hopes in this country, that they will not continue closing the doors on the victims of the Mexican government. There are bases for political asylum."</p>