Posts by Russell Brown
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In another instalment of our Kiwi Sydney Experience series, software developer Chris McKay talks about selling up and shipping out to Sydney after his bedroom company in Devonport was acquired by video-conferencing giant Codian.
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It gradually dawned on me as the butcher carefully sliced, pared and minced, that she had meant: I'll be a while. My pride was the butcher's gain. I improvised something else to buy. Merci, au revoir.
I think I'd be inclined to regard watching a good French butcher preparing meat as part of the entertainment anyway. Mmmm. Fancy meat stuff ...
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Australia has taken a remarkably anti-democratic turn under Howard, and it frightens me.
The progress reports from the hearing, with the judge describing the police case as "opaque", were clearly not a good pointer to the final decision.
The language of the police case, weirdly hysterical as it was, presumably persuaded the judge that he didn't want to have his name on any calamiry, no matter how unlikely.
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The problem with being serious about human rights is that you find yourself having to stick up for scoundrels all the time. Panah's a scoundrel.
Gee, I don't know if I'd want to say that, and the rejection of the sincerity of his conversion is the part of the RSAA decisions I'm least comfortable with (having heard from quite a number of other Iranians professing conversion on their way through South Korea, I guess they're a bit sceptical these days).
It's more that the evidence he presented to back up a claim that he was at risk of persecution was fabricated. There are 300,000 Christians in Iran, and they have dedicated Parliamentary representation. Apostasy prosecutions are rare, and usually political.
Panah could presumably get himself in trouble if he acted as an evangelist, but I'm still not sure if that's a strong enough reason to waive the tribunal process and grant him asylum. I'd be more inclined that way if he was a Ba'hai. Perhaps because they haven't been around for 2000 years, they seem to really cop it in the Middle East.
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Clearly the guy's supporters have got the wrong end of the stick a bit, but this isn't a battle to be fought in the arena of public opinion either way.
I think the frustration for people on the government side is always that one side can go to the court of public opinion and merrily say what they want, while ministers and officials can't discuss the details of a case at all.
I think that "getting the wrong end of the stick" is a very kind way of putting it. I'm sure they are well-motivated and good people, but I'm also sure that Panah's spokespeople knew that basically every piece of evidence he presented in two separate appeals was found to be a crock, and the most they'll cop to are "relatively minor and explainable discrepancies".
I remember Tze Ming ticking me off when I once mused that Zaoui seemed like such a good chap I'd just have him anyway; pointing out out that refugee status can't be a popularity contest.
I consider myself a liberal on asylum and refugee policy, but this guy just doesn't seem like the right case to me.
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Is there a way with Wikipedia to link to a particular edit? Then at least there would be some permanency to what you are linking to.
Yes, that's easy enough to do. OTOH, the Christianity in Iran and LGBT Rights in Iran articles seem to both have their historical shiftfights, but both seem quite stable now.
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Yes. Either we stand for human rights, or we don't. If people face a significant risk of persecution due to their religious or political beliefs, or their race or social status, then we should grant them refuge. Anything else is failing in our duty as human beings.
I guess we're down to what constitutes a significant risk and how that should be proved. The RSAA found Panah's evidence that he was at risk to be fabricated. What evidence should it have acted on?
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Totally off-topic Russell, but is quoting Wikipedia for authority a very good idea when you can generally find more reliable primary sources? It seems to be what everyone does these days when I suggest that it is pretty unreliable (I also refer to your recent Listener column re wikiscanner in this regard).
Let's not be too hard on Wikipedia. It was fit for purpose in this case, and you get to be able to assess the quality of an article (having a look at the History and Talk is a good idea). And I did look at half a dozen other sources, which didn't differ markedly.
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To me people with that sort of energy and persistence are the exactly the "huddled masses" we need in N.Z.
In sentiment, I don't disagree. Panah even has skills, as a drainlayer. But, again, under the system we've got, Panah was found to have no credibility. And I can't see the political will for change to that system coming from anywhere.
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Russell: no, it's not an automatic death sentence, but it is a risk, and there is significant persecution. And that's why we should be granting these people protection.
Along with applicants from Burma, China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, North Korea, Eritrea, Sudan and Vietnam? Those are the other countries on the US State Dept's most recent "Countries of Particular Concern".
I was actually surprised at how many countries do deport homosexuals back to Iran.
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