So, for more than a month, hundreds of pastors and volunteers from across the Netherlands conducted a non-stop 800-hour church service in support of an Armenian family whose asylum claim has been rejected. Continue reading

She is now seeking clarification about the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) signed in June.

In a press release about the denial of the extension, the BI stated that Fox had spent 27 years in the country as a missionary.

The release stated that, following the MOA, foreign missionaries ordinarily stay in the country for only ten years.

Fox's lawyers, however, said the agreement did not preclude the extension or renewal of a missionary visa for another ten years.

The bishops' conference is supposed to endorse foreign missionaries, religious and lay people for their visa applications.

At a forum in Quezon City on 19 September, Fox said she thought it is an issue that the church has to look into.

Church leaders need to clarify the issue because it will affect foreign missionaries, she said.

Immigration officials arrested Fox on 16 April for supposedly "joining rallies."

The next day, she was released for further investigation after it was discovered she had a valid missionary visa.

When rejecting her application for an extension, the BI cited the deportation order issued against her previously.

The BI said Fox had violated the conditions of her stay and is considered undesirable. That is why a deportation order had been issued against her.

"Our legal team believe that approving the extension of her missionary visa will be inconsistent with the findings cited in her deportation order," said BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval.

Fox testified against the Duterte government before an international tribunal on 18 September, narrating the political persecution she believes she experienced.

Fox said she would appeal.

Source

• ucanews.com
• immigration.gov.ph
• philstar.com
• Image: omct.org

Her lawyers called the move "persecution" and said they would appeal. Read more

It has agreed to extend her stay in the Philippines and review her appeal against an order from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to forfeit her visa.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra has announced Fox now has until June 18 to leave the country if the Bureau of Immigration's order is to be implemented.

The 71-year-old nun welcomed the prompt response of Guevarra to the petition for review that she filed before the DoJ on Friday afternoon.

That was the deadline set by the BI after it accused her of participating in "partisan political activities" in the country.

The DoJ's order gave Fox "a ray of hope" that her case would be fairly reviewed and she prays that the BI's April 23 order will be reversed and set aside "for utter lack of factual and legal basis," Fox's legal counsel Robert Pahilga said.

"This also removes the anxiety and concern that she will be arrested anytime by the agents of the bureau similar to what they did last April 16."

But Fox and her lawyers are not complacent.

Pahilga said it seems that no less than the most powerful man in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte, wants her out of the country.

"If I do not contest the government's order, it could become a bad precedent," Fox told ucanews.com last week.

The Philippines' immigration bureau revoked Fox's missionary visa on April 23 for allegedly participating in "partisan political activities."

It also "deactivated" her alien certificate of registration.

On May 23, the bureau rejected her appeal for it to reinstate her missionary visa.

It had also dismissed Fox's claims of lack of due process.

Source

• ucanews.com
• manilatimes.net
• Image: gmanetwork.com

She has been labelled an "undesirable" foreigner for what the country's Bureau of Immigration says is "her involvement in partisan political activities."

The 71-year-old Australian nun has 30 days to leave the Philippines.

An immigration spokeswoman said she can still return as a tourist, but not as a missionary.

In a one-page order, immigration bureau head Jaime Morente asked Fox to leave the Philippines after "she was found to have engaged in activities that are not allowed under the terms and conditions of her visa."

Fox said in a statement that she was surprised by the order and that she hoped authorities would change their minds before the 30 days were up.

She told Australia's ABC TV: "For me, it is part of my mission as a Catholic sister to stand beside those whose human rights have been violated, who are asking for help."

"We will file a motion for reconsideration on this order," said Jobert Pahilga, Fox's lawyer. "She has not participated in any partisan activity. She is a nun."

The left-wing activist group Bayan (Nation) condemned the expulsion order of a nun who "has done so much for Philippine farmers in her nearly three decades stay here."

"The Duterte regime is paranoid and afraid of an elderly nun working for human rights and social justice for the poor," Bayan leader Renato Reyes said in a statement.

"The deportation order of Sister Pat is indeed despicable and utterly shameful," said Mr Reyes.

Last week in a speech to soldiers, Philippines President Duterte said he ordered the immigration bureau to look into Sister Patricia's political activities in the country.

Source

• npr.org
• theaustralian.com.au
• abc.net
• Image: Twitter

There is a possibility that she will be deported as an "undesirable alien".

Sister Patricia Fox, Philippine superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion, was arrested at her convent in Quezon City on April 16.

Authorities have accused Fox, who has worked in rural communities for 27 years, of being an "undesirable alien" because she took part in protest rallies and visited political prisoners.

Although the prosecutor in charge "found no probable cause" for her arrest and ordered the Australian nun to be released for further investigation, immigration officials insisted on her detention.

They said Fox failed to surrender her passport to the bureau. She said her documents were with a travel agency.

The bureau subsequently released her after her lawyers submitted her passport and other immigration documents showing she had a valid missionary visa.

Fox's counsel, Jobert Pahilga, said she would still have to sit through a preliminary investigation because a formal complaint has been filed by the authorities.

"Our next step is how to get the case dismissed because she's not an undesirable alien.

"Her work is very much desired by farmers and indigenous peoples," said the lawyer.

Evidence presented by authorities include pictures of her taken during a jail visit in the southern Philippines with a banner that reads "Stop Killing Farmers."

She also joined a recent fact-finding and solidarity mission that investigated alleged human rights abuses committed against farmers and tribal people in the southern Philippines.

Fox told ucanews.com that part of her missionary work is "to immerse with the poorest of the poor in any event."

"Our mission includes listening to the narratives of people especially poor farmers and indigenous people," she said. "We go to places where we find them."

Source

• ucanews.com
• ucanews.com
• channelnewsasia.com
• Image: ucanews.com

Mehrra Kipefa also said the rules for the issuing of new permits would be tightened.

He said the review would ensure expatriate workers are only working the one job for which their permit was issued. Read more

The reason: Dinesha has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Continue reading

Narayan given reprieve by the new government as deportation halted. Read More

Original Post

A young Fijian man with serious intellectual disabilities is on the verge of being deported back to Fiji.

New Zealand Immigration plans to deport Sagar Narayan even though Sagar's family has advised the government department that he had no support network back here in Fiji. Continue reading

Kirk 'Seamus' Robertson and his Vietnamese partner, Pham​ Thu Thuong​ Nguyen, known as Thuong, were married at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oxford, North Canterbury on Saturday. Continue reading

"That's just in Enga and not counting the border areas of Hewa and Paiela," he said. "And the number of sorcery-related cases might in fact be higher."

Lutz said the latest attack last Saturday at Pompabus, Wapenamenda, left one woman dead and another with serious injuries after they were burned with hot irons and cut with razors.

The two women were blamed for causing the death of a three-year-old child.

Enga provincial police commander George Kakas said a post-mortem showed the child had died after choking on a piece of sweet potato.

Anton and Julie Lutz are based in Enga Province and have been active there in combating sorcery-related violence.

In June the Immigration Department attempted to have them deported.

The allegation made at the time was that the sponsoring church organisation no longer employed them.

It is not the first time they have been threatened with deportation - one particular occasion in 2014 was related to a dispute in the Gutnius Lutheran Church hierarchy between one-time Head Bishop David Piso and his former Deputy Nickodemus Aiyane.

Julie Lutz has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea since 1986.

Anton first came to Papua New Guinea with his family in 1986. He then returned in 2004 as a full-time missionary.

Anton's late father Dr Steve Lutz served in Enga as a missionary surgeon for more than twenty-three years until his death.

The Lutzes are missionaries of the USA-based Lutheran Church's Missouri Synod.

The church has been working in PNG since 1991 under a group called Concordia Lutheran Professional Mission Services.

Source

• The National
• The Loop
• RNZ
• ABC
• Facebook
• Image: stopsorceryviolence

Mr Tennent, who is a New Zealand lawyer, was removed nearly two months ago despite a court order stopping it.

Panfilo said some had advised the church not to let the PNG government off the hook.

"But we are not after blood, we are not vindictive, we just want Doug to be back and to be back as quick as possible."

The PNG court ordered immigration services to issue Tennent a new visa last month which would see him return by August 8.

Tennent is scheduled to fly out on Friday, but is not confident his visa will come together in time.

"It doesn't look like that's happening," he said.

Despite criticisms he should be suing immigration for damages, Tennent is just looking forward to returning to work.

"The Archbishop and I have decided we're not into that. We just want to get back, carry on with the job."

But Tennent will be making submissions to the Ombudsman, Constitutional Law Reform Commission and immigration calling for a change in the deportation process.

"I don't want this sort of thing to happen again. If you've got a concern about somebody, you go to them firstly and you let them respond. That was not done at all.

"I think we've got a moral obligation to try and address that."

Tennent had been working with Panfilo on the concerns people in one district of East New Britain had over their relationship with a multi national company involved in logging and oil palm, Rimbunan Hijau.

Source

• RNZ
• Asia Pacific report
• Image:MSC

A new visa application to re-enter Papua New Guinea has been filed, which he hoped would be granted shortly.

On Friday the in the Kokopo National Court Justice Salatei Lenaia issued orders to the acting chief migration officer, Solomon Kantha, and the PNG immigration and citizenship service Authority to facilitate Tennent's return within 14 days.

Lenaia also stayed the notice of cancelation used on June 1 by the minister of foreign affairs and immigration

It is now up to the parties to decide whether Tennent is issued with a new visa and work permit or the legal pathway is pursued.

Before his arrest, Tennent was three years into a seven year commitment to work in Papua New Guinea as part of the Caritas Catholic Volunteers Overseas programme.

As a lawyer, Tennent was using his skills to advocate on behalf of the Pomio villagers around issues related to land rights.

This included taking court action against Rimbunan Hijau, a Malaysian-based company whose interests include logging and timber processing.

For the past month Tennent has been trying to do what he can to continue his work via email but his sudden departure had been disruptive. He said he left behind a huge amount of work which he was keen to get back to

He said the experience had given him a renewed commitment to his advocacy work but it was likely he would take a more cautious approach in how he went about his role should he be able to return to Papua New Guinea.

"Certainly it's going to make us more thoughtful about what we do," he said.

Source

• Stuff
• Loop
• Image: LexisNexis

The US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested those waiting deportation on 11 June. Their arrests sparked protests as many of them are Christians and are likely to be persecuted when they get back to Iraq. Read more

His comment comes after the Catholic Church said it was poised to take legal action against Mr Kantha for contempt of court because he ignored a stay order and deported Douglas Tennent Continue reading

Acting chief immigration officer, Solomon Kantha said Tennent's visa was cancelled by Immigration and Foreign Affairs Minister Rimbink Pato because of his alleged involvement on landowner issues.

He said the decision was based on a complaint from landowners in East New Britain.

The Post Courier reports that Kantha has told the archbishop of Rabaul, Francesco Panfilo, that Tennent, can re-apply for a new visa and work permit.

However, the archbishop has refused to do so unless he receives reassurance from the Foreign Affairs Department that Tennent can return.

He is also demanding to know who lodged the complaint letter.

The landowners' umbrella company's, Memalo Holdings Ltd, managing director has denied that they are responsible.

Wesley Pagott said although the members of Sigite Mukus Integrated Rural Development Project (SMIRDP) disagreed with with what Tennent has been doing, they were surprised to hear that he was deported.

Memalo Holdings was originally incorporated listing six separate landowner companies as shareholders.

They were all incorporated on the same day. Two have since been delisted.

Memalo controls the land on which the SMIRDP is being developed by Rimbunan Hijau Group (PNG).

The Group has a diverse set of interests that encompass forestry, timber processing, palm oil, transport, media, retail and property development.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rimbunan Hijau, a company based in Sarawak, Malaysia.

The Acting Governor of East New Britain, Cosmas Bauk, has pledged his support.

He said he would do everything in his power to make sure that Tennent can return to continue on with his work.

Bauk said he was disappointment at the manner in which the current government has been doing its business without regards to the people's plight for justice and what they rightfully claim as theirs.

He commended the church for their efforts in assisting the people in Pomio and East New Britain and would stand with the church in this fight.

Source

• postcourier.com.pg
• news.pngfacts.com
• postcourier.com.pg
• rhpng.com.pg
• greenpeace.org
• wikipedia.org
• Image: radionnz.co.nz

Despite a court order staying his deportation, Douglas Tennent was forced to leave PNG on Monday after being told on Friday by immigration officials he was abusing the conditions of his religious worker visa.

Now back in New Zealand Tennent said he wants just two things.

"One of them is to return to PNG to continue my work with the archdiocese in helping local people on infrastructure and land issues," he said.

"And the other thing I want is for immigration to spell out to me how I breach my visa and if any groups have got concerns about my actions, set them out so I can respond. I have had no opportunity to respond."

In a statement issued on Tuesday the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands , said Tennent was deported for fighting for justice for the voiceless in Papua New Guinea.

The archbishop of Rabaul, Francesco Panfilo, says Tennent was working for him on disposing of church and other lands, a housing project for low-income earners and helping those negatively affected by a huge palm oil project, run by multi national Rimbunan Hijau.

Rimbunan Hijau, which has wide interests in PNG, has a huge oil palm plantation at West Pomio in East New Britain.

Panfilo said the claim by immigration that Tennent had illegally involved himself in sensitive land issues was false.

Tennet is a well-known and respected author on immigration and refugee law issues.

He worked from 1984-1992 as an advocate in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea court and prison system under a joint project of the Anglican and Catholic Churches.

From 1998 until 2002 taught in the Faculty of Law, University of Papua New Guinea. He was also the Associate Dean.

He then spent some time on the faculty of law at Waikato University.

From 2009 till 2011 he was a legal advisor in the Solomon Islands.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• store.lexisnexis.com.au
• Image: lexisnexis.co.nz

Gomez said fears surrounding deportation are not new and many people were deported when Barack Obama was president.

However, he said the administration under President Donald Trump has set a harsh tone and shows a cruelty he does not like. Read more

The students who come from India arrived on fraudulent visas.

"Having looked at their situation it seems to us that these students have been duped by unscrupulous immigration agents in India," Anglican Archbishop Philip Richardson said.

The leaders say the way the New Zealand government handles cases like this appears to be inconsistent.

In the past there have been similar cases where officials deemed immigration agents had falsified documentation and the students were not deported

"We urge the government to re-consider the case of these students," Cardinal John Dew said

"We do so on the basis of concern for the human situation of the students, our Christian responsibility to care for ‘the stranger, the widow and the orphan' among us, and a concern for just application of NZ's immigration policy."

The Statement is signed by Cardinal John Dew, Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, Archbishop Philip Richardson, Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia and Reverend Prince Devandanan President - the Methodist Church of New Zealand.

Read the whole statement

Source

• Supplied
• Image: screen shot stuff.co.nz

The protest was held on Monday outside a public meeting presented by the Finance Minister Bill English and National List MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar at Lynfield Community Church, Lynfield, Auckland.

The reason for this protest was simply for the students to reach out to the New Zealand government through Mr Bill English in their plea for justice. It is to be noted that the Minister of Immigration has now completely refused to meet the students and the committee (representatives from The Catholic Church in NZ, The Anglican Church in NZ, Barrister Rodney Harrison QC, Secretary of NZ Council of Trade Unions) supporting them. Continue reading