Fwd: War On Peter Ekwiri
Rolf Martens
[21.11.02]
Hello Okoth Osewe,
I've signed the below petition, as No. 18 to do so, and am
forwarding your message to some other mailing lists and to a
number of Usenet newsgroups.
These things, which unfortunately are not uncommon today,
really are outrageous and need to be protested against
everywhere.
Rolf M.
Malmö, Sweden
To: <mot_...@yahoogroups.com>
From: "Okoth Osewe" <os...@hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 14:30:02 +0100
Subject: War On Peter Ekwiri
Sign petition online...
http://aribis.org/files/peterekwiri.html
To: Swedish Minister of Immigration
Att: Swedish Immigration Minister
BOX 16121
103 23 Stockholm
18th November 2002
EUROPE MUST STOP DUMPING REFUGEES IN AFRICA
Petition managed by Peter Ekwiri Support Group
We, the undersigned, demand that Swedish authorities assume
their responsibilities and bring back the African refugee
Peter Ekwiri to Sweden from Ghana, where he was unlawfully
dumped by Swedish police in 1995.
Peter Ekwiri's case was made known by Swedish national
television last autumn - in the documentary series "Fortress
Europe" directed by Andreas Rocksén and Erik Sandberg. The
reporters revealed that the Swedish police had promised, in
an agreement with the authorities in Ghana, to repatriate
Ekwiri to Sweden if he turned out to be a non-Ghanaian. This
never happened. The fact is that Ekwiri, a Ugandan citizen
with no connections to Ghana, was eventually imprisoned for
several years after being classified as an illegal immigrant
by Ghanaian authorities.
Peter Ekwiri is not alone. In fact the dumping of Ekwiri is
part of a systematic and cruel method for getting rid of
refugees. The Swedish Consul in Ghana, who has been in charge
of recieving "dumped" refugees there, has admitted that he
has been involved in a total of 25-30 cases since the mid
nineties. Around 30% of the refugees involved were "dumped"
in Ghana by Swedish police. In each and every case of these
outrageous "dumpings", huge amounts of money was used by the
Swedish police to bribe the Ghanaian immigration authorities.
No documentation has ever been done of how this filthy money
extorted before dumping african refugees in Ghana was used.
The "refugee-dumping" method reveals the in-built racism of
Swedish and European immigration politics. The rule seems to
be: The darker the colour of the skin, the more violence used
by athorities. Africans are not many among refugees looking
for asylum in Europe, but are evidently over represented when
it comes to cases of agression by the immigration and police
authorities. Some have been killed or seriously injured. Some
have even taken their own lives during the process of seeking
for asylum. Out of 109 known recent cases of suicide among
asylum seekers in Europe, 49 were committed by Africans. And
out of sixteen people who died in the hands of police, during
deportation, when arrested, transported on land, or loaded on
board aeroplanes, six were Africans.
As the Swedish superior court of administration recently
decided to investigate the circumstances in the case of Peter
Ekwiri, a support group has been formed to defend the basic
human rights of Peter Ekwiri and other refugees, as well as to
demand for humane Swedish refugee politics which should be in
accordance with all international conventions of which Sweden
is a signatory.
We, the undersigned, now urge those concerned to condemn the
dumping of refugees in African countries by European
governments, especially Sweden. We call for the abolition of
refugee dumping in other countries as a way of getting rid of
those considered to be illegal immigrants, under racist and
discriminatory European immigration policies.
We demand that both Swedish and Ghanaian governments respect
the international conventions protecting the fundamental human
rights of individuals and the rights of refugees in
particular. More so, as the two countries are signatories to
the Geneva convention and other Human rights accords.
We demand for the resignation of the Swedish Consul in Ghana,
who has abetted the inhuman treatment and unacceptable dumping
of refugees in Ghana.
We also demand that those guilty of the dumping of Ekwiri and
other refugees be held responsable for all the Swedish
taxmoney which was payed in connection with these cases of
dumping. Money that according to the Swedish governments own
investigation has not been documented.
We, the undersigned, demand that Swedish authorities bring
back Peter Ekwiri to Sweden immediately and unconditionally.
Peter Ekwiri needs your support! Join hands! Write your name
and e-mail adress on this petition!
We are also planning further activities (debates,
demonstrations) to deal with the above mentioned blatant
violations of human rights and international conventions.
For further information about the Ekwiri case, follow these
links:
http://www.svt.se/dokument/fortet3.asp
http://allafrica.com/stories/200112040474.html
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/telegram/
0,1082,56458916_852__,00.html
http://hem.passagen.se/asylum/nr014/fyra.html
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/
artikel.php?ID=22090
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/
artikel.php?ID=20095
http://www.quickresponse.nu/veckans_nyheter/
day.asp?vecka=3&ar=2002
http://samhallsguiden.riksdagen.se/debatt/fragor/
fraga.asp?rm=0102&nr=62
http://www.riksdagen.se/debatt/fragor/ip.asp?rm=0102&nr=51
http://www.riksdagen.se/debatt/protokoll/prot_frames.asp?
http://www.riksdagen.se/debatt/0102/prot/27/27S00034.ASP
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/2002/020111/122.html
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/
printnews.php?ID=20095
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Name
11.Mattias Gardell
10.Mari Höglundstuderande i Hällefors
9.Erik Hegelund
8.Daniel Lundgren
7.Lillian Malander
6.Silje Lundgren Börja respektera individers liva mer än egna
ekonomiska intressen.
5.Peter AdlerStockholm, Sweden
4.Eva Adler
3.Daniel NjugunaJustice Now!
2.Michael Mc Eachrane
1.Okoth Osewe Stop racism within Swedish immigration system
and return Peter Ekwiri to Sweden.
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