Monday, September 28, 2015

questions of an activist from Rwanda

The U.S. Government lawyer asked:
You say you spoke on radio in USA and criticized your government? where is a transcript of what you said? did anyone hear your words?
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You say the government hates Jacques and all of his relatives?
  OK, so in the year 2014, tell me where each relative lived and what happened to each one.
You departed from your country in 2013? since that time, has your government asked one relative of yours even one question?   So, your government has forgotten about you, correct?
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You say you were beaten up. Did you seek medical attention? any permanent injuries or scars? How long were you in pain? two weeks? two days?
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your brother criticized your government? how and when? did the government know that he criticized it? how do you know that the government was aware of what brother was doing?
-did  you report your problems to the police?
Is internal relocation possible?  this means: OK, you had problems in City #1. Why not go live in City #2?  how would anyone in city #2 know you were the relative of Jacques?
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you traveled to Kenya? why not seek asylum there? from Kenya, you returned to the "dangerous" country of Rwanda? RTDC?  you voluntarily returned to  a place of great danger?

When you lived in Kigali, did your government watch you? 60 minutes/day? how do you know?
Tell me about each member of your family. where do they live, and what happened to each one!
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you have six cousins? what was the worst thing that happened to one of them?

what are your activities here in USA?

the asylum officer concluded the interview with these questions, on 8/21/14:

1. has your government talked to your family, in your country, about you, in the past year?
2. has anyone talked to any member of your family, about you, in the past year?
3. You departed from your country in 2008, and went to Saudi Arabia? in Saudi Arabia, did you participate in any activities against your government?
4. Why not?
5. Have  you been participating in any activities here in USA?
6. why not?
7. Have you participated in any political activities in USA?
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the applicant answered all of the above questions with NO.
-The government of applicant's country has forgotten about applicant
-the applicant has forgotten about his government, apparently
-note that questions #5 and #7 are the same: the officer repeated this question.
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The fact that the officer asked the same question, twice, tells you what about how important the answer to the question is?
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This applicant was denied asylum.
What should he have done to have improved his chances of winning?
What should you do, between now and the time of your interview with the asylum officer?