IPS:SWEDEN:Crisis over influx of Ku

[PeaceNet Middle East Team]

From: <pnmideast>
Subject: IPS:SWEDEN:Crisis over influx of Kurdish

/* Written 12:12 am  Jan 23, 1993 by newsdesk at igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "SWEDEN: Crisis over influx of Kurdi" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: SWEDEN: Crisis over influx of Kurdish 'boat people'


stockholm, jan 20 (ips/greg mcivor) -- new laws may be drafted to
curb the rising tide of ''boat people'' from the east after 391
mainly kurdish refugees landed wednesday on a baltic island.

the refugees, many in poor health, had been crammed aboard a 30-
metre latvian-registered trawler which set sail from the latvian
capital of riga more than a week ago.

it is the fourth such incident in the past three months which
together involved a total of 500 refugees.

storm force winds and high seas forced the boat to put in at the
port of slite on the island of gotland. four crew members were
arrested by the police and face smuggling charges.

twenty six refugees were taken to hospital, most suffering from
lack of food and exposure. others were on wednesday night being
given temporary shelter in schools while the authorities made
arrangements to transport them to the mainland.

''the conditions aboard were diabolical,'' said one of the asylum-
seekers. ''we were packed in like sardines and there was no food
like we had been promised, not even milk for the babies.''

''we were afraid. the boat was being tossed about by the waves
and was beginning to sink,'' said another refugee from iraq.

the swedish news agency tt said that many of the passengers had
used their life savings to pay the 2,500-dollar fee for the
voyage. it said the arrangements had been made in moscow.

it is unclear whether the intended destination was sweden or
denmark. it was also unknown whether any of the refugees had
applied for asylum.

an uncertain future awaits them. under swedish law, everyone has
a right to claim asylum, but they must prove they are fleeing from
political or religious persecution as defined in the geneva
conventions.

concern is mounting in sweden that its liberal asylum laws have
made the country a magnet for refugees who pay large sums to have
themselves smuggled to a new life via russia or the baltic states,
often aboard boats which are undermanned and in poor repair.

''these people haven't come from the cold of the kurdish
mountains, but from moscow, where some of them have been living
for some time,'' said anders ullenius of stockholm police's aliens
department.

calls for action to stem the tide of refugees grew more strident
wednesday in the wake of the fresh arrivals.(more/ips)

sweden: crisis over influx of kurdish 'boat people'(2-e)

''the major problem is the lack of border controls between russia
and the baltic states,'' said daniel andersson, an immigration
ministry official.

''the best way to combat this kind of smuggling is to increase
the penalties on those who try and bring them in,'' he said. ''we
will investigate new legislation to achieve that.''

last week the captain of a russian boat apprehended after
illicitly transporting 76 kurds to sweden received a four-month
prison sentence. three other crew members were jailed for three
months. the crews in two previous incidents escaped merely with
fines which they were subsequently excused from paying.

andersson said the swedish police recently began helping to train
border officials in estonia. the government would now press for
that cooperation to be extended to latvia and lithuania.

berit olssen, of the national immigration board, urged the
government to put pressure on russia and the baltic countries to
sign the geneva convention on refugees.

peter martenssen, of the swedish red cross, said the current
situation was ''lamentable and uncontrolled''. he said he had
information that there were hundreds of kurds waiting in moscow,
kiev and tallinn to register for one-way trips across the baltic.

''these people's lives are not under threat, nor do they lack
food,'' he said. ''they have become economic
migrants.''(end/ips/pr/gm/jm/93)