Refugees try to stay in Malaysia
Dozens of immigrants from Indonesia, fearing a campaign
to deport 200,000 undocumented workers from Malaysia by
August 15, scaled the walls of foreign embassies in Kuala
Lumpur seeking asylum. More than a third of Malaysia's labor
force is made up of immigrants, half of whom are from
Indonesia.
Officials at the French and Swiss embassies turned the immigrants over to local cops. Eight remain in the U.S. diplomatic house. Malaysian human rights groups condemned the embassies for letting the authorities arrest the immigrants, the majority of whom say they are Acehnese people fighting for independence from Indonesia. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights refused to get involved.
U.S. gov't says it may act in Cambodia to arrest Pol Pot
Cambodian government forces are reportedly closing in on
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Meanwhile, the Clinton
administration is probing the idea of sending U.S. and Thai
government forces to make the arrest and try him before an
"international tribunal." An unnamed U.S. official was
quoted in the New York Times saying that without U.S.
intervention Pol Pot "may die before we ever have a chance
to bring him to justice." From 1975-79, Pol Pot headed the
Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia with terror,
slaughtering up to two million people. He was ousted with
the help of Vietnamese troops. For years afterward,
Washington and the United Nations continued to give official
recognition to Pol Pot's "government in exile."
Meanwhile, the monarchist Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was ousted from his position as second prime minister by Prime Minister Hun Sen last July, returned to Cambodia March 30 to campaign in general elections set for July.
Tel Aviv deports migrant toilers
Israel's labor ministry issued an April 2 announcement
of its plans to deport nearly 100 undocumented workers in
the Israeli resort town of Eilat, "in order to clean the
city of those who disturb public order" before Passover
tourists arrive from abroad. "Foreign workers are a profound
mistake with the most negative effects on the Israeli
society," stated Eli Ishai, Israeli labor minister. Tens of
thousands of foreign-born workers - most of them from
Romania, Thailand, and the Philippines - have taken
residence in Israel, since free entry was denied to
Palestinian workers five years ago. Ishai is laying down
plans to deport up to 1,000 immigrant workers a month. "We
wanted to clean the city of all that stuff," commented
Ishai's spokesman Nachum Eidan, referring to the non-Israeli
workers.
Blast kills 63 Ukraine miners
A methane gas explosion more than 3,600 feet below the
surface in Donetsk, Ukraine, killed 63 workers in the
Skachinskoho mine April 4. According to the Associated
Press, this was "the worst coal mine accident since
[Ukraine's] independence in 1991." The disaster was a result
of old equipment that was not maintained and unsafe working
conditions. Some 290 miners died last year in Ukraine's 229
coal mines. The death toll for this year so far stands at
160.
Haitians demand U.S. residency
Hundreds of Haitian activists and others from across the
United States assembled at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.,
to demand that Haitians be given legal status. Seven
busloads reportedly came from south Florida. The March 23
demonstration demanded U.S. legislators pass a proposed bill
that would grant legal permanent residency to up to 120,000
Haitians.
Dominican gov't, Cuba set ties
The government of the Dominican Republic opened a
consulate in Havana, Cuba, April 7 for the first time in
three decades. Dominican foreign relations minister Eduardo
Latorre, Presidential Secretary of State Danilo Medina,
Deputy Foreign Minister Minou Tavaréz, and Customs Director
Miguel Cocco attended the ceremony. Under pressure from
Washington and fearing the example of the Cuban revolution,
Santo Domingo broke diplomatic ties with Havana in 1964. For
similar reasons, other Caribbean governments have had sparse
relations with the Cuban government since the 1960s. But in
the last year, high level officials from Guyana, Haiti,
Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and Grenada
have visited the island.
The Cuban government set up its consulate in the Dominican capital last December, two weeks after Santo Domingo named its counsel to Havana.
Mexico: troops terrorize Chiapas
About 1,500 cops and soldiers raided a village in
southern Chiapas, Mexico, April 8, claiming to search for
guns and kidnappers. They arrested three men from the
Chiapan town of La Hormiga, San Cristóbal, supposedly on
outstanding warrants. The three men arrested are all leaders
of peasant organizations and unions. The government forces
also "confiscated" 73 automobiles.
Racist youths are convicted for beating Black man in Brooklyn
On April 9 three young men were found guilty of second-
degree assault and second-degree aggravated harassment in
the racist beating of 27-year-old Kevin Teague. They were
acquitted of a more severe charge of attempted murder. A
fourth man, Ralph Mazzatto, was acquitted on charges of
driving a sports utility vehicle that intentionally hit
Teague.
Anthony Mascuzzio, Alfonse Russo, and Andrew Russo assaulted Teague Sept. 20, 1997, after an argument with an unrelated group of Black youths. Teague, who is also Black, was headed home from his job at United Parcel Service when he was waylaid and pummeled with fists, feet, a baseball bat, and a steering wheel lock amid a sea of curses and racial slurs. Teague needed 13 stitches and may have incurred serious eye damage. He also lost two months' work. The three assailants convicted for beating him face up to eight years in prison.
- BRIAN TAYLOR