Canada appeals to overturn South African refugee ruling

Josh Goodman
9/10/09
7:11 pm

Brandon Huntley is 31 years of age and taking refuge in Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board granted him refugee status in Canada to get away from persecution and racism in his native South Africa. In South Africa, that majority is African Americans, seventy nine percent. One of the minorities are whites, a little over seven percent. His request were based on seven racially motivated attacks that were void of any police intervention. He was called a "settler" and "white dog." Oddly enough, Huntley's attorney left South Africa in favor of Canada twenty years ago because of the South African governments discrimination against blacks and remarked on how now it is just the opposite. However, the Canadian government is seeking to have the Board's decision overturned by federal courts and have Huntley sent back to South Africa. The African National Congress also criticized the Board's decision as "racist" complaining that it would only create more racism.

This article reminded me of a few things that I normally think of domestically. Refugees aren't always a large group of people crossing borders due to war and genocide. A refugee can be a single person trying to escape persecution and discrimination, hoping to start a new life in a better environment. Discrimination isn't against blacks or mexicans, it's a global social problem that affects minorities and in this case, minorities are whites. Brandon Huntley fled South Africa for a good reason in my opinion. Any minorities should be allowed to leave a country in hopes of finding a better environment, whether they be in the U.S., Europe, or Africa. One thing I do not understand is why governments would want to reject people fleeing such persecution. I could understand someone being rejected as a criminal, but just as a person trying to live a better life, I can't grasp that. I found it interesting that Huntley's own attorney fled the same country just twenty years earlier for the same reason. The only thing that changed was whites being discriminated against instead of blacks. It just shows that as the world changes, anyone can be persecuted. Why should governments force a person back to a place they don't want to be? In that case, a man like Huntley would undoubtedly run to a different nation searching for refuge.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/04/canada.asylum/index.html?iref=newssearch