The Jungle of Calais

"At dawn today, riot police moved into The Jungle and rounded up the migrants despite dozens of human rights activists who tried to block their way. They denounce the raid as a media stunt they would drive the migrants underground making them easier pray for traffickers. The Jungle of Calais might be closed, they say, but the steady flow of migrants to Northern France will continue and simply bubble up somewhere else. "

-NPR News

On September 22, French police bulldozed a makeshift village in the port city of Calais that had been set up and inhabited by immigrants. I heard the story on NPR last week and it piqued my interest.

Although I haven't had a chance to confirm it yet, I believe that this is where Aram was living before he was arrested trying to get into the UK.

The AP story is here and you can listen to the full story from NPR here.

U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers: Seeking Protection, Finding Prison

From Human Rights First.

When refugees fleeing persecution seek asylum in the US, they are detained in
jail-like facilities, and without basic due process safeguards, as detailed in a
new HRF report. The report also outlines ways to improve this process that are
more cost-effective, just, and humane.

Ariving in America

I found a link to this article from the New York Times while I was browsing Michael Totten's site. It's written by an Iraqi who recently settled in the US after working as a translator for the US military.

Yesterday we took a long drive to get somewhere. My aunt is very cautious and
alert while driving through a particular neighborhood. She turns to me and says:
“Look!” I turn around and spot two empty cans of soda and, like, three empty
bags of potato chips all in a polite pile. “This is a bad neighborhood,” she
says.

I will only add that I think it's unfortunate that the US, European and Iraqi governments so severely limit the Iraqi people's freedom of movement and that more Iraqis aren't experiencing the same joys of living in a relatively free and open society.