"It is understood that the bulk of asylum seekers were from India and Romania. "
Asylum laws bar State involvement: Vuniwaqa
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Update: 5:05PM THE Immigration Department has not received any official notice or information on the asylum seekers from Fiji who were part of the massive migration fraud recently uncovered in the United States because of the existent confidentiality policy.
"As a general rule when processing claims, no information should be shared with the authorities of the (asylum) applicants country of origin, hence the very reason we have not and will not be made aware of any asylum claim by a Fiji citizen anywhere in the world," said Immigration director Major Nemani Vuniwaqa today.
"The matter before us is for the US authorities to deal with as those concerned have committed an offence under the US laws and not ours."
Interestingly, the claims were made between 2000-2004, he pointed out.
A massive exodus was widely reported immediately after the 2000 coup which promoted racist, anti-Indian sentiments.
The US Department of Justice convicted five people for their part in the long-running scheme which filed hundreds of false asylum claims from Romania, Nepal, India and Fiji.
The scam is estimated to have resulted in up to 1,000 asylum seekers being denied earlier rulings to stay in the United States.
The five were found to have used phony documents, doctors' letters and affidavits to support their clients claims of ethnic, religious or political persecution.
It is understood that the bulk of asylum seekers were from India and Romania.
No breakdown of the claims have been made public, neither was it revealed how many of these asylum seekers were either duped or actively involved.
