Analysis of Concerning Immigration Asylum - Case Study Example

Immigration Asylum: A Case Study Margarita's situation is delicate, and this will be discussed in the realm of: a)the five Convention reasons and articles of the ECHR on which to base her claim; b) the issue of persecution/well-founded fear and future persecution; c) sufficiency of protection from the Ecuadorian authorities; and d) the issue of internal relocation. One of the issues with the articles of the ECHR is that there is a statute that forbids any kind of illegal activity, such as human trafficking to go on. The fact that Margarita said she was forced into prostitution in her home town is very troubling. An investigation should be launched into this aspect of having been forced into prostitution. "A requirement of promptness and reasonable expedition is implicit in all cases but where the possibility of removing the individual from the harmful situation is available, the investigation must be undertaken as a matter of urgency. The victim or the next-of-kin must be involvedto safeguard their legitimate interests" ("Human Trafficking Under the ECHR," 2010, p. 1). Being forced into prostitution is unacceptable according to the ECHR. One of the articles of the ECHR states that, "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude" ("European Convention on Human Rights," 2010, p. 1). With regard to the amount of people being granted asylum, "the number of people from outside the EU who were allowed to join spouses or other close family members fell from 10,950 in 2001 to 3,835 last year. Only 1,607 people were granted asylum in 2004 - down from 6,263 three years earlier" (Conradi, 2010, p. 1). The fact that the Home Office does not accept her status, for whatever reason, is very troubling. Basically the Home Office is being discriminatory. Unfortunately, what the Home Office does not realize and take into consideration is that if they make the wrong move, and send Margarita back to Ecuador, this mafia gang will no doubt kill her. This is a life or death situation. She already received a death threat, and honestly it is not understood how they could not take that into account. Additionally, since this is a mafia gang and not just any gang, a mafia gang operates differently than a normal gang. Mafioso gangs are not only more likely to, but they will track Margarita down once she enters Ecuador again in order to force her into prostitution again. This is a bare fact. Once the Home Office realizes that they are not just dealing with some home-grown street gang, they would do good to accept Margarita's plea of asylum. As previously mentioned before, the difference between a home-grown street gang and a mafia gang is that the mafia will kill you. In other words, wherever Margarita went were she to return to Ecuador, her life would continually be in danger. This would be no way to live. She would have to go from house to house searching for a new place to live everyday. The mafia would track her down like a dog and they would find her. Then, they would kill her. How is this a known fact Speaking from the experience of having studied Latin American history, when a Latin American mafia gang-very much like the terrorist group The Shining Path Guerillas in Peru (El Sendero Luminoso)-decides to kill you, basically your life is over. These types of guerilla-slash-terrorist operations are very efficient. Basically, if they want you dead, they are not going to waste time trying to find you so that they can kill you. Several people are living in exile due to the fact that they cannot live in their own countries because of these horrible people who would stop at nothing to see them dead. These mafia gangs are most dangerous because, anywhere you try to go in in-country, they will try to find you and kill you. What is most dangerous about gangs like these is that they will stop at nothing to make sure the targeted person is dead. This means that if Margarita goes back to Ecuador, the Home Office would basically be giving her a death sentence. What the Home Office probably doesn't understand is that this kind of debacle is systemic. By systemic, it is meant that the problem is faced across the nation. It is not just an isolated incident. Therefore, this could happen all over the nation to anyone. This just happens to be happening particularly to Margarita. The issue of persecution is very grave and should not be taken lightly. The chances that Margarita could be persecuted in the future are very great. Therefore it is probably good that the Home Office not take the risk of having Margarita sent back to her native country. If she is sent back, they will most likely definitely kill her. Margarita should not be sent back to her home country of Ecuador. Whatever the Home Office can do to prevent this should be done. Especially in light of the fact that Margarita received a death threat from this known Mafioso gang, this is very serious. Considering the fact that Margarita thinks the police may be working in conjunction with the mafia gang, police protection is probably not going to be an option. It does not really make sense that the Home Office would put Margarita in police "protection" or police "custody" in Ecuador when the justice system is corrupted by the local mafia. Sufficiency of protection from the Ecuadorian authorities would probably be negligible. The bottom line is, Margarita is in very grave danger. Some "larger gangs are referred to as 'nations'(naciones)'The main difference between gangs and 'naciones' is numerical. The gang is made up of up to 20 members and a 'nacion' can have as many as 1,500 in one city alone, including ties overseas,' says Mauro Cerbino, professor and researcher on gangs" ("Gangs and 'Naciones' in Ecuador: Cross-Border Ties", 2010, p. 1). One of the problems is that this "mafia gang" that Margarita has encountered might be a nation. If it is a nation, she could be in serious trouble. This means that the corruption would be systemic throughout the country. The nation owns the country, basically. This is why Margarita feared for her life. She was worried that she was in legitimate danger of being killed. If Margarita was possibly facing a nation, it is only natural that she would be scared of dying. She wouldn't have left the country if she didn't think she had a legitimate reason for doing so. This could explain the link between the police and the mafia gang. The mafia gang may not only be acquainted with the police but have the ability to infiltrate the police in Ecuador. As one can see, the devastation this gang has caused Margarita is immense. The fact that the Home Office wants to send her home to Ecuador is absolutely ludicrous. The fact that Margarita has been denied asylum is absolutely inane. She has no ability to protect herself should she go back home. She might be forced into prostitution again. She would be separated from her family. Nothing good would come of Margarita being sent back to Ecuador. This is part of the reason why the UK should give Margarita asylum. Ecuador's political situation is in shambles as it is, and it has a bad relationship with Colombia. "Relations between Ecuador and Colombiacontinued to be strained. The raid also led to the resignation of the leaders of Ecuador's armed forces after it was learned that Ecuadoran intelligence services had shared information about the rebels with Colombia but not alerted the presidency to it" ("Ecuador," 2010, p. 1). Ecuador's political situation is obviously not ideal. Not only that, but the idea of this nation tracking Margarita is cause for keeping her in the UK. The Home Office should at least consider Margarita's circumstances more carefully. They have to realize that sending her home could a major mistake on their part. If Margarita were to be sent back home to Ecuador and she were to die at the hands of Ecuadoran rebels, the Home Office could possibly be sued by her family for having let her be sent back to Ecuador. Thus, the Home Office faces some serious liability if they do indeed send her back to Ecuador. If Margarita is indeed sent back to Ecuador, the Home Office will have made a major mistake. The issue of internal relocation is a joke. Anywhere Margarita would be relocated, she would always be followed with the shadow over her shoulder. She would always have to worry about this nation infiltrating her life throughout all areas. Margarita should not have to worry about internal relocation. She does certainly not want to go back to Ecuador. In conclusion, there are a number of things that the Home Office should consider. First of all, the ECHR strictly and expressly forbids that anyone should be enslaved in any form or fashion. Thus, the Home Office, on this very grounds, should take Margarita as an asylum-seeker into the UK. The fact that they are ignoring this basic tenet is disturbing. Margarita has very well-founded fears that she is going to be persecuted. Having been given a death threat, she took her circumstances seriously. Margarita really has no other choice. The Home Office is retaining her, however, this sort of retention cannot last forever. The basic fact is that if Margarita can't get asylum in the UK, her chances of getting asylum in another country is slim to nil. Since she has family members who live in the UK, it would make more sense if they would just allow her into the country. Even though Margarita came into the UK on a fake passport, she had good reason for it. She was being persecuted in her nation of origin. This is a legitimate reason under the ECHR to leave one's country and seek asylum. Margarita definitely has a valid complaint to lodge with the Home Office. Margarita could very well make the case that she is probably being tracked by a "nation." She is not just dealing with a gang, nor a gang that is small. Once the Home Office realizes the nature of this type of violence in Ecuador, and recognizes the fact that she was indeed forced into prostitution, most likely she would be given asylum in the UK. However, it does not seem like the Home Office realizes this fact. The Home Office would be sorely amiss if it didn't consider that angle. As such, it must reconsider its position. The sooner it reconsiders allowing Margarita asylum, the better. Margarita does not have the luxury of time. The Home Office should take all of this into account when it makes its decision. Perhaps it will realize that its first decision was quite hasty and ill-informed. Margarita is in grave danger. If the Home Office doesn't realize this, it will be sorely amiss. The Home Office must not only recognize the fact that the police would do next to nothing to protect Margarita. This is an important aspect. There is an aspect of even more premier importance. The Home Office must also recognize that internal location within Ecuador would also be fruitless, a dead end. For all of the above reasons, sending Margarita back to Ecuador would be a grave mistake. The Home Office must realize this and give her asylum accordingly. Margarita deserves not to be forced back into prostitution. Additionally, she deserves a quality of life which includes not having to live in fear. The Home Office should seriously reconsider this problem. If they do indeed send Margarita back to her home country of Ecuador, this could be disastrous for both the UK, not to mention Margarita. Her feelings are not being taken into account here, and the evidence is not being taken into account if she is sent back to Ecuador. It only is common sense that Margarita should be allowed to stay in the UK. The UK is a nation of immigrants today. It would be a shame if the Home Office were to send her home just because they were discriminatory against immigrants. Margarita deserves to be free, and life in the UK would afford her freedom. REFERENCES Conradi, P. (2010). Tough rules slash asylum in Denmark. [Online Article]. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article379499.ece Ecuador. (2010). [Online Encyclopedia Article]. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Ecuador.html European convention on human rights. (2010). [Online Article]. http://www.hri.org/docs/ECHR50.html Gangs and 'naciones' in Ecuador: cross-border ties (2010). [Online Article]. http://www.coav.org.br/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htmfrom_day=&search_by_keywords=any&search_text_options=all&from_month=&infoid=933&to_day=&search_by_section=all&to_year=&sid=107&from_year=&=_pt&search_by_state=all&search_by_authorname=all&query=advsearch&user=UserActiveTemplate&search_by_field=tax&to_month=&text=Gangs+and+%91naciones%92+in+Ecuador%3A+cross-border+ties&search_by_priority=all&search_by_headline=false Human trafficking under the ECHR. (2010). [Online Article]. http://intlawgrrls.blogspot.com/2010/01/human-trafficking-under-echr.html Read More