Wednesday, May 28, 2008

questions asked of an activist from Burma

The Asylum Officer asked: "what is your address? do you really live there? what is your cell phone number? why is the area code from far away? do you really live there? who do you live with? what is her immigration status?

when did you leave your country? when did you last arrive in USA? today, where is your mother? father? brother #1? Brother #2? sister #1 lives in Singapore? what is her status there?
Show me your passport! when was it issued? when did USA give you a visa? where else in the world did you travel? why can't you get status in one of those countries? how did you get the passport? was it hard to get? you paid a bribe? how much?

why are you seeking asylum? why did you leave your country? what was your plan at that time? at that time, what was your knowledge of the USA and the rules for applying for asylum? if you did not know, then you could not form a plan, correct?

were you harmed in Burma? did you suffer physical harm? emotional harm? economic harm?
Were you a member of any organization in Burma? what job did father do in Burma? sisters? brothers?

how did you find out about the protests in USA? who sponsored the protests? weren't you worried about government spies at the protests? So, why protest then? why did your friend take photos of you at the protest? can't photos be used against you? did you see a man inside the Embassy taking photos? why did he take photos? you say you fear your Government; but, you protest. Isn't that a contradiction?

how did the government find out about your sister, and that she was disloyal? did sister write a letter? are her details consistent with your details?
The more details you write down, the more you must be able to repeat!

No comments: