domestic violence victim from Tanzania #2

The asylum officer asked:
 -why did you come to USA?
-you voluntarily left your children behind, to come to USA?
Tell me all of your international travel! all of it, not just some.
What does each stamp in your passport indicate?
Why did you go to Zimbabwe in 2011?
why go to Kenya in 2012? and then, voluntarily, you returned to the "dangerous country"?
You tried to escape from the mean boyfriend in 2010, 2011, but not in 2012? You are inconsistent, aren't you?
-did your boyfriend know you applied for a passport?
If he didn't want you to travel, why didn't he take passport away from you?
Did he ask you about your passport?
Why didn't he ask? is he stupid?
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How did the police find out what you were doing in March 2013?
How did you pay for your trip to Kenya?
How did you pay for trip to USA?
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is there anything else?
You say, "in my culture," you must do certain things? like what? what is the penalty if you break the rules?

domestic violence victim from Tanzania

The asylum officer asked these questions:
When did you last leave your country? what does your passport say? why is there a mistake on page one?
What was your last address in your country?
What did you say at US Embassy to get your visa? what address did you give to them?
Do you work in USA? where?
Who prepared your application?
How was your personal statement prepared?
are you aware of its contents?
did someone read it back to you, in your language?
Why did you travel to the USA in January 2013?
What was your plan? what was your intent?
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What did brother tell you on the phone? he said he talked to the bad guy? what did the bad guy say?
Can you repeat his words?
what did you do, during the last 30 days you lived in your country? what preparations did you make? what did you tell your employer? your kids? your husband?
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When did you decide you wanted to apply for asylum? why not apply sooner?
Why did Mr. X hit your mother?
What was the plan, concerning your children? who would take care of them? for how long?
What would happen if you return to your country?
Why did your husband mistreat you?
What words did husband say? can you repeat his words?
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you had problems in the city where your family lived? OK, so why not live in city #2, which is 300 miles away?
-could husband find you in that far-away city? how?
Tell me about all of your international travel!
is there anything else?
You say that Mr. X is angry at you? why?

activist from Cameroon denied asylum by a Judge

Mr. T, from Cameroon, was denied asylum by a Judge, who stated:

1] Mr. T claims his government is angry at him, and that prison guards beat him up in 2007. However, after that time, T departed from Cameroon and came to the USA, and did not apply for asylum! Why not?  and then he returned to the country he says is so dangerous. Why would anyone return to a place where the government is angry at you?

2] his family still lives in Cameroon, and no one bothers them. If the government hates Mr. T, why doesn't the government punish the family?

3] Mr. T did not know his own international travel. Why not? The Court is interested in the "stamps" in his passport. Yes, the passport pages are blurry, and the stamps are overlapping, but the Court asked his clerk to personally photocopy each page of the passport.
4] he did not apply for asylum in Egypt. why not?
5] Mr. N testified in court, but he was inconsistent with the letter he had written. Mr. N was unable to repeat a 3-paragraph letter?
6] yes, Mr. T has a scar on his head. Some one hit him. By who? and why? there is insufficient evidence that a government agent hit him because to the political opinion of T.
7] T departed from, and returned to, the "dangerous country."  [the Judge repeated this; see #1 above]
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8] T departed from his country years ago. Is his government still interested in him, or did the government forget about him?  There is no evidence of what the government thinks today, January 2015.
9] the sister wrote a letter saying, "the government tortured T in front of me," but she also said "I could not visit him in prison."  This is confusing and inconsistent.
10] the wife wrote a letter of support, but she has her own motives: she wants to come live here in USA; so she exaggerates to help herself [if husband wins, she wins]
11] T says he was beaten on his feet; Dr. Smith says he saw no problems with his feet.
12] T says he was beaten in 2007 and also in 2008; the letter from Dr. Jones only talks about 2007.
13] Ms. Ossa wrote that "I saw the police arrest T" but she gives no other details.
14] things are getting better in Cameroon. On April 14, 2013, the country held its first Senate elections in history, "and the Dept of State considered the elections to be generally free and fair."
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15] there is no evidence his government cares about him today. T has not been active here in USA; he is not a leader or officeholder in his party.
16] the government has not harmed his family; the government has not even talked to any member of the family.

activist from Iraq

The asylum officer asked:
why are you applying for asylum?
Whom do you fear?
Whom do you fear the most?
Did you receive any direct threats?
did you suffer any physical harm?
Why did the soldier hurt you?
Why is Mr. Mustapha angry at you?
How does he know about your political opinion?
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What is your political opinion?
How did you come to feel this way/
How did you first get involved with your political party? what motivated you to jon?
How does your government view you?
Why did ISIS kidnap those people?
How does anyone know you are a Kurd?
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Were there any specific threats against you?
You arrived here in USA in June 2012, but did not apply for asylum? and then you returned to the dangerous country?
-when you returned to Iraq, did you take any precautions to avoid harm?
When did you first decide to apply for asylum>
If you return, what would happen to you?
You had problems in the city of Baghdad? OK< so, why not live in the city of Basra?
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Tell me about all of your international travel!
Did you ever have to pay money to travel in your country?
did you ever have to pay money to someone, even if you didn't want to?
did you ever give money to  a terrorist? ever give money, even if you didn't want to, to a bad guy?
Did you ever pay $ to a 1] terrorist 2] smuggler 3] stranger 4] taxi driver?
Ever get stopped at a roadblock, or at a checkpoint? YOu

an activist from Sudan

The asylum officer asked:
-who prepared your application?
-can you answer each question on page one of I-589?
Can you answer each question on page four?
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So, you did health education for women in your country?
Why do you care about this subject? when did you first get interested?
Why is this important to you?
Why does the government dislike this subject?
When did you start working in this area?
why did you decide to work for them, instead of some other organization?
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What did  you do in your job? [what would a movie camera record you doing?]
what did you tell people? pretend I am a woman in a village. What would you say to me?
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were you harmed in your country? how/when/why?
  OK, in 2006, you were detained for three hours, but what was the harm? did you suffer emotional harm at this time?
Did  you suffer physical harm? were you hit or slapped or punched?
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  OK, in 2012, you were detained again for 6 hours. any physical harm? any hitting?
What words did the guard say?
what language did he speak in?
What thoughts went thru your mind when he said those things?
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Why did you depart from your country?
What was your plan?
when did you decide, "I shall live in USA forever, and never return to my country"?
Why does  your government hate United Nations workers?
were any similarly-situated persons [i.e. other UN workers] harmed?
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after your arrival here in USA, did government look for you? why?
What were your public activities here in USA?
Did  your family suffer any harm, since you left?
you had problems in City #1 and #2. OK, so why not live in #3?
Is there anything else?

activist from Egypt

The Asylum Officer asked:
-show me your passport!
tell me the date of birth of each of your children
what was your last address in your country?
You were arrested in September 2013? why?
what were your activities before your arrest?
WHAT COMPLAINTS DID YOU HAVE AGAINST YOUR GOVERNMENT?
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you protested on 7/5/12?  what was it like that day? what was it like to be there that day?
Why did you, personally, decide to protest that day?
How did you join the party?
Tell me the process. Take me through the day: what would a camera have recorded? you walked into a building, and talked to a man at a desk?

did you ever have problems with the police before that day?
When you received the news, what did you think?
How did the police get your address?
Why wasn't your sister arrested? why your father not arrested?
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why were you arrested?
Why were you shot?
If you had to return to your country, would you continue in politics?
Why would you be arrested upon your return?
When you departed from your country, why were  you not arrested at the airport?
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Tell me all of your international travels!
Could  you obtain permanent resident status in any other country?
is there anything else?
is there any other reason why your government wants to arrest you?

what happened after man from Nepal sent certified mail to his Ambassador in Washington DC?

May 2014:  Mr. N, from Nepal, suffered no physical harm in his country.
He came to USA, and wrote a letter of complaint and criticism to the Nepal ambassador, who has an office in Washington DC.  He sent the letter by certified mail, attaching PS Form 3811 to the envelope.

PS Form 3811 is green, and is about the same size as a post card. It goes to the address, and someone there signs it, and gives it back to the Post Office. The Post Office then sends it to the man who wrote the letter.

The asylum officer asked, "Did the ambassador actually receive your letter?"
Mr. N showed the signed PS Form 3811 to the officer.

He was granted asylum.[Arlington Asylum Office, May 2014]