Harnek Singh Atwal came to the United States seeking refuge. Accused by the Indian government of alding the All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF) a Sikh political organization in the movement for an independent Sikh state. Singh lived in hiding for five years, rarely able to see his wife and children and in constant fear of arrest and torture. Finally in February 1991, he abandoned his hopes for a normal life in Punjab. He secured false travel documents and began his long journey to the United States, where he hoped to rebuild his life.

When Singh arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on September 15, 1991, he immediately informed the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that he wished to apply for asylum. Instead of finding the refuge that, he had hoped for, however, Singh was immediately detained. Singh’s incarceration was the result of a recent change in INS policy in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Since early September 1991, INS has been detaining all asylum applicants that arrive in Los Angeles and San Francisco by air without proper travel documents. Only those asylum applicants with a serious medical condition or immediate relatives in the United States have been released. As a result perhaps hundreds of refugees from India Pakistan and Sri Lanka restating in U.S. Jails waiting for asylum hearings that may not be scheduled for several months.

On December 20, 1991, an immigration judge found that Singh faces arrest and torture in India on account of that governments suspicion that he had supported the political Activites of his cousin, a high ranking member of the A.I.S.S.F for an independent Sikh homeland, In their efforts to capture Singh’s cousin, the Indian security forces arrested and brutally tortured Singh’s father, leaving him permanently disabled and unable to walk. Since that time, the security forces have been seeking to arrest Singh on suspicion that he had been supporting the political activities of his cousin.

The INS released Singh Just hours after the judge’s decision. Although relieved attending his three months of incarceration, Singh and his attorney, Robert Jobe, angrily denounced INSs “senseless policy of incarcerating refugees”. According to Jobe, The practice of jafling refugees who are unable to obtain proper travel documents deters those refugees from seeking safety from torture and death in this country. It is cruel and irrationals He called upon local INS officials to adopt the “more humane” detention policy that has been used in recent months in New York, where aliens arriving without proper documents are generally released from custody upon filing of a non-frivolous asylum application.

Last week, more than 40 asylum applicants that are incarcerated in the Santa Rita County Jail launched a two day hunger strike to protest their continued detention. Singh supports the efforts of the hunger strikers to improve their conditions. He complained that in the Santa Rita Jail. The asylum applicants are forced to mingle with hardened criminals who steal their food and physically abuse them. At the Phoenix County Jail, where Singh was detained for approximately two weeks, he shared a cell with 14 other prisoners. “We were jailed for days without blankets, a tooth brush, toothpaste or towels”. “This is no way for this country to treat refugees,” said Jobe.

For additional information, contact: Jobe & Melrod

235 Montgomery St Suite #827

San Francisco, CA 94104

Telephone: (415) 956-5513

Article extracted from this publication >> January 10, 1992