Asylum cases expose Tigers' ransom trail

USA: A Sri Lankan fisherman who was kidnapped by the LTTE and forced to pay US$ 500 is now in a federal detention centre in New Jersey awaiting a decision on his asylum application.

He is accused of giving the LTTE about $500 and denied asylum. But he says the payment was ransom to secure his release after being kidnapped by the group.

The government says the 32-year-old refugee, identified only as "R-K-" in court records, gave the LTTE about US$ 500 two years ago and has denied his request for asylum.

But R-K- says in court papers that he had no choice: The payment was ransom to secure his release after the Tigers kidnapped him.

He said the Tigers showed up at his home in Jaffna demanding his fishing boat in November 2004, court documents say.

He refused and three days later they kidnapped him, took him to their camp and held him for a couple of days until he agreed to pay about $1,000 in ransom, according to his attorney, Joseph Devamithran.

He had paid about half, but the Asian tsunami struck before he could pay the balance, wiping out his boat, house and livelihood. Terrified, he left his wife behind in hopes of gaining asylum in Canada, his attorney said.

His case illustrates the legal paradox confronting hundreds of other refugees seeking asylum in the United States, according to a report released Tuesday from the advocacy group Human Rights First.

Under the USA Patriot Act and other laws, immigrants who provide "material support" to a terrorist group are automatically barred from gaining asylum - even if they helped those organisations against their will or under duress.

Being forced to aid terrorists, however, is often the reason many want asylum.

"It takes the very harm people suffered and turns that into a reason for denying them protection," said Anwen Hughes, a Human Rights First staff attorney who helped author the report.

"It's treating victims of terrorism like terrorists."

The report says at least 565 asylum seekers - many of them ethnic and religious minorities fleeing violence in countries such as Myanmar, Colombia and Nepal - have had their cases put on hold as a result of the policy.

Also on hold are another 700 requests for residency from refugees previously granted asylum or refugees status.

Department of Homeland Security representatives had no comment Wednesday on the report.

The case of the Sri Lankan fisherman stuck in New Jersey has prompted Human Rights First to make legal filings on his behalf.

Before reaching Canada, he was stopped at the airport in Newark, N.J., after his plane landed in February 2005.

Since then, he's been held in a federal detention center.