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Faking Political Asylum Is A Crime



Dear Myo Thant and others,
    I do not understand how anyone can view people in the pro-democracy 
movement as a priviledged group.  I have never nor has anyone who deeply 
cares about the democracy in Burma stood for priviledge.  The notion of 
priviledge is antithetical to the democratic principles which I would 
defend with my life.
  
    Let me clarify my position more.  I never said that political asylum 
status should be reserved for students--I stated that political aslyum 
status should be granted to those who desperately need status in a third 
country. This includes all people (students and civilians) who have 
participated in the democracy movement. 

    Let me also remind everyone that faking political asylum is also 
perjury.  The Immigration and Naturalization Service defines political 
asylum status very specifically.  Let me quote Basis for Eligibility 
(page 2) on INS' Form I-589 Application for Asylum and for Withholding 
of Deportation:

"In your application, you should clearly detail any of your experiences, 
or those of family members which you believe illustrate why you have a 
well founded fear of persecution.

You may also include background material such as newspaper articles, 
affadavits of witness or experts, periodicals, journals, books, 
photographs, official documents, other personal statements, or evidence 
regarding incidents that have occurred to others.  However, you must 
establish why those incidents, or other general evidence are relevant to 
your specific circumstances and why you have a well-founded fear of 
persecution."

Thus, simply living under the Burmese military regime is not enough for 
anyone to get political asylum.  You must be personally subject to 
persecution in your homeland.  The questions on Form I-589 ask for very 
specific evidence of the applicant's experiences.  Some of these 
questions are the following:

Have you or any member of your family ever belonged to or been 
associated with any organizations or groups in your home country (i.e., 
a political party, student group, union, religious organization, 
military or para-military group, civil patrol, guerilla organization, 
ethnic group, human rights group or the press)(page3)?

Have you or any member of your family, ever been Arrested, Detained, or 
Interrogated (page 3)?

Why do you think would happen to you if you returned to the country from 
which you are claiming persecution (page 4)?

    On the last page of the Form I-589, the applicant must sign the 
application and certify the following statement:  "I certify, under the 
penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America, that 
this application and the evidence submitted with it is all true and 
correct.  Title 18, United States Code, Section 1546, provides in part:  
Whoever knowingly makes under oath, or a permitted under penalty of 
perjury under Section 1746 of Title 28, United States Code, knowingly 
subscribes as true, any false statement with respect to a material fact 
in any application, affidavit, or other document required by the 
immigrations laws or regulations perscribed thereunder, or knowingly 
presents any such application, affidavit, or other document containing 
any such false statement--shall be fined in accordance with this title 
or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.  I authorize the 
release of any information from my record which the Immigration and 
Naturalization Service needs to determine eligibility for the benefit I 
am seeking."

   In short, this means that anyone who falsifies their personal 
experiences of persecution in their application for political asylum has 
committed perjury. This application includes any materials like Htun 
Aung Kyaw's recommendation letters which falsifies the applicant's 
experiences persecution.  

   Are you and the others who support Htun Aung Kyaw supporting perjury?  
Perjury is a federal offense in the United States and as Form I-589 
atates perjury is subject to fine and/or five years in jail.  

   The US Immigration and Naturalization Service asks such specific 
questions on the applicant's experience of persecution and has included 
the statement on perjury because political asylum is reserved for those 
people who truly cannot return to their country.  Unlike the people who 
come here with work permits or by other legal means, refugees and 
displaced persons cannot return to Burma unless they wish to face 
imprisonment, torture, and possibly death by the military regime.  A 
person who comes here legally can return safely to Burma after their 
visa or work permit has expired.

   Despite your feelings on this issue, I intend to investigate these 
charges of perjury and falsifying political asylum applications by Htun 
Aung Kyaw.  I have contacted colleagues of mine who are lawyers and we 
are going to bring these charges to Janet Reno, Attorney General of the 
United States.  We intend to investigate and prosecute those who have 
committed perjury under the full extent of the law.  I hope that none of 
you who have defended Htun Aung Kyaw have contributed to his criminal 
activities or had him write false recommendation letters for you.

    If anyone has information regarding Htun Aung Kyaw's criminal 
activities, please contact me.

Than Win (Htoo Gyi)

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