Women’s Division letter takes up rights for detainees
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A web-only photo by Paul Jeffrey, GBGM A woman in India performs in a play about tolerance.
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A
young woman performs in a youth group's play about tolerance in
Hyderabad, India. The Women's Division of the United Methodist Board of
Global Ministries sent a plea to take up the cause of South Asians,
Muslims and Arabs who are detained or being deported from the United
States without consideration of their basic human rights. It comes in a
letter linked to a study on India and Pakistan. A UMNS web-only photo by
Paul Jeffrey, courtesy of the Board of Global Ministries. Photo
#w05055. Accompanies UMNS story #355. 6/16/05 |
June 16, 2005 A UMNS Report By Kelly Martini* United
Methodists will have opportunities this summer to take up the cause of
South Asians, Muslims and Arabs who are detained or being deported from
the United States without consideration of their basic human rights. A
plea to become the voice of these voiceless persons is being made by
the Women’s Division of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries
to more 20,000 women, clergy and lay people taking part in the
denomination’s Schools of Christian Mission. It comes in a letter linked
to a study on India and Pakistan. The India-Pakistan study
focuses in part on how globalization, interfaith relations and the war
on terror affect these countries. A related concern is how Pakistanis
and South Asians are being treated within the U.S. borders. The division’s letter asks United Methodists to approach the media on behalf of the detainees’ rights and their human dignity. “Since
Sept. 11 (2001), the fear of terrorist attacks has been used to justify
a series of laws and regulations that have restricted immigrant rights,
legitimized racial profiling by law enforcement agents, and led to the
detention of thousands of South Asian, Muslim and Arab boys and men in
the U.S., and the deportation of hundreds,” the letter states. “As
United Methodist Women study India and Pakistan in schools of mission
this year, we can also become aware of how fear and new legislation are
affecting South Asian and other Muslim communities in the U.S. and take
action.” According to a May 24 New York Times article, a program
known as “Special Registration” during 2002 and 2003 required boys and
men in the United States from more than 20 Muslim-majority countries to
“voluntarily” report for registration. They were fingerprinted,
photographed and questioned, with the goal of hunting for
terrorists. An estimated 83,000 men came forward, though
only a handful has been charged with terrorism-related offenses.
However, 13,000 of those who voluntarily registered were placed into
deportation proceedings because of irregularities in their immigration
status that would have required simple legal corrections before Sept.
11. While Special Registration has ended, some registrants are still in
detention under threat of deportation. On May 24, the
Coney Island Project, an advocacy group in Brooklyn, N.Y., reported that
the U.S. government deported 57 Pakistanis from a Louisiana detention
center, including three women and four children, without allowing them
to notify family members still living in the United States. On arrival
in Pakistan, they were handed over to Pakistani immigration authorities
before being released. The Women’s Division letter states
that Pakistani immigrants who are deported are often in a precarious
position. It cites a Human Rights Watch report that states, in one
instance, “Pakistani authorities detained two U.S. citizens of Pakistani
origin and brutally tortured them for nine months while the U.S.
‘turned a blind eye in the hopes of gaining information in the war on
terror.’” Since 2002, thousands have been sent back to Pakistan,
many on minor immigration irregularities, with no accusation of a crime,
according to a Human Rights Watch report in May. New laws
since Sept. 11, 2001, increase government power to detain terrorism
suspects without charge and broaden the powers of search, surveillance
and indefinite detention for those awaiting a deportation decision.
Racial profiling of Arab, Muslim and South Asian men has been
legitimized through national registrations and local police practices,
according to the Women’s Division letter. The mass
deportations, violation of civil rights and racial profiling have been a
concern of the United Methodist Church. The 2004 General Conference,
the legislative body of the denomination, approved a resolution on
“Immigrants and Refugees: To Love the Sojourner.” The resolution calls
upon United Methodists to ensure that immigrant rights and dignity are
upheld as the government develops policies to combat terrorism. For more information on the action letter or sample letters to the editor, go to http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/, the division’s Web site. *Martini is communications director and information officer for the Women’s Division. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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