UMCOR attorney wins asylum case July 22, 2004 By Linda Beher* NEW YORK—A man without a country, and the last Burmese asylum seeker in Guam, is a step closer to asylum in the United States, thanks to a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California. Arguing the case of Mang Hau Khup was T.J. Mills, attorney for United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The court ruling, published July 16, effectively ends a three-year wait for asylum by directing the lower court to reconsider his petition in light of a “well-founded fear” of both past and future persecution. Khup had fled Burma—or Myanmar, as it is now known—first to Malaysia, then to Guam, in his bid to avoid arrest for his activities as a Christian pastor. His first contact with the relief agency occurred at an asylum law clinic in Maite, Guam. He was among 1,000 displaced Burmese whose presence in Guam as asylum seekers resulted from a one-time visa waiver offered by the U.S. protectorate. Initially, an immigration judge declared the Seventh-day Adventist pastor ineligible for asylum or for any other protections guaranteed to qualifying refugees, and sentenced him to prison. UMCOR’s first action was to secure his release from jail. Now that his appeal has been successful, Khup hopes eventually to reunite with his wife and son, whom he has not seen for nine years. The California appeals court ruled that the arrest, torture and killing of one of Khup’s colleagues in ministry in Burma were grounds for believing that he faced a similar fate if he returned to Burma. Mills has counseled some 1,000 clients on their rights as immigrants or asylum seekers through UMCOR’s “Justice for Our Neighbors” legal services program. Established in response to toughened immigration rules following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the program provides free legal counsel to immigrants in 18 United Methodist churches around the country. *Linda Beher is communications director for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. News media contact: Linda Bloom·(646)369-3759·New York· E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org
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Korean News
