Immigration: In brief (2)
01 September 1993
Gardner report delayed: The Police Complaints Authority, which is conducting an investigation into the death of Joy Gardner (see Statewatch 3:4 July-August 1993), announced on 1 October that its report would be delayed because further forensic tests on the cause of death needed to be conducted.
Independent, 2.10.93.
Russia: police deport people from the Caucasus republics: Under an official order police and security forces in Moscow have been stopping people they think are from the Caucasus republics of Russia - Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Chechens - and deporting them if they do not have residency papers to live in Moscow. A spokesman for the police, Mr Schavelev, said the measures were intended to "rid the city of all illegal residents, most of whom happen to be from the Caucasus". According to Mr Schavelev the order singled out people from the Caucasus because unlike other nationalities "they are easy to identify because of their physiological and facial features". Since the order was imposed 24,000 people had been stopped and questioned and 3,540 had been sent "home"
Moscow Times, 13.10.93.
Belgium tightens controls: The Belgium Interior Minister Louis Tobback has drafted in an extra 220 officials to speed up asylum applications and the fingerprinting of refugees to determine if they have made more than one request. Mr Tobback is also setting up an investigation to establish whether "organised networks" are advising refugees on ways of increasing their chances of staying in Belgium.
European, 7.10.93.
Slovakia's President criticised: Vladimir Mecair, President of Slovakia, has been strongly criticised for making racist remarks. Meciar said that gypsies were "social and mentally ill citizens" and proposed stopping child benefits for gypsy children. Another proposal to ban gypsies from going out at night was overturned in the courts. Austrian Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal said such views had justified the deportation of gypsies to concentration camps in World War Two. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma have called on the German government to declare Mecair persona no grata .
ESMV newsletter, September 1993.
Germany: "foreigners stay home": The Federation of Greek Communities (FGC) in Germany has reacted strongly to a directive issued, in eight languages, by the North Rhein-Westphalia regional authority's Interior Ministry and local police. The directive urges foreigners to stay in their homes to offset racist attacks, "draw the curtains of your windows at dusk and lower the blinds" it says. FGC President Kostas Pappas said in a letter to the Interior Minister, Herbert Schnur that the advice: "pits immigrants and aliens against racist and neo-Nazi anti-social elements, with the former defending themselves in their homes with the blinds down and lights switched off and the latter attacking and dominating the streets".
Athens News Agency, 10.9.93.