Word: asylum
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When police demolished the illegal refugee squatter camp known as "the Jungle" in northern France in September, the French intended to make a statement - that European governments were finally getting serious about stemming the constant tide of asylum seekers who have fled war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan for the continent. A month later, French and British officials have begun to forcibly deport some of the tens of thousands of Iraqi and Afghan refugees whose epic journeys have ended in detention camps in Europe - making good on a threat they have voiced for months...
...European Commission in Brussels also took steps to address the problem from a procedural standpoint by issuing new rules for dealing with asylum seekers. Officials set a six-month time limit for governments to hold refugee application hearings and advised all 27 European Union countries to introduce the same asylum procedures, rather than wildly varying standards. Jacques Barrot, the commission's vice president, said the changes aimed to offer "a more level playing field" to the huge numbers of people from Africa, Asia and elsewhere flooding into Europe. (See pictures of the French cracking down on migrants...
Though a fair number of Spanish names for both sexes will find asylum on American shores, the majority appear doomed - and the Social Security Administration has the cold numbers to illustrate the point. Juan lost 18 spots in the past decade, going from 48th to 66th. Its sister name, Juanita, fell through the floor, plummeting from 792nd place to 1,002nd in the same period. Guillermo lost more than 100 spots between 1998 and 2008, sliding from No. 369 to 470. Angelica crashed from 109th place to 257th in the same stretch; Manuel has gone from 147th to 186th...
...free pass simply because he is a celebrity or because his punishment is overdue is offensive to the idea that all individuals are to be treated as equals under the law. Roman Polanski’s life has been difficult and his achievements great, but he should have no asylum from justice...
...absence of a formal agreement, nations are not obligated to turn over fugitives to each other. The U.S. and Russia do not have an extradition treaty, which led many dissidents to defect to America and seek political asylum during the Cold War. Fugitive U.S. financier Bobby Vesco allegedly stole $224 million from a Swiss mutual fund but avoided detection for years by hopping between Caribbean islands that did not have extradition laws (and once even tried buy his own island). And Lebanon's Mohammed Ali Hammadi, wanted in the for murdering a U.S. Navy passenger during the 1985 hijacking...