Good news: stateless gay Armenian will be allowed entry back into US

Good news. Finally, after a year of being stuck in a real-life “The Terminal” status, stateless gay Armenian will be allowed entry back into US.  Thanks to UNHCR for following-up this case and assisting Mikhail. And thanks to Global Post for keeping us updated.

This case highlights the lack of legal provisions for stateless people in the US and the need to address this issue asap, and hopefully will help others to regain their human rights.

For more background info, read: CNN: Stateless gay Armenian man stuck in American Samoa in real life "The Terminal"

Updates via Global Post:

It’s been more than a year since Mikhail Sebastian became marooned on isolated American Samoa after a vacation gone wrong. Now the gay, stateless man, whose unprecedented situation baffled US immigration authorities and horrified migrant rights advocates, will finally be allowed back home to Los Angeles. Late last week, Sebastian was offered humanitarian parole by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a rare status that allows the 39-year-old back onto the mainland while officials figure out next steps in his strange case. His attorneys believe he could be in California by next week once logistical details are worked out.

Sebastian has been stuck on the Pacific US territory since late 2011, but gained worldwide attention after being profiled by GlobalPost last October. A collection of supporters ranging from university professors to immigration attorneys has since pressed officials to allow his return.

“It’s freedom finally,” Sebastian said by phone from American Samoa this week. “I have lived a nightmare here.”

For many in Washington, the coffee barista and former travel agent has become a potent symbol of the broken US immigration system and a voice for the serious problems facing America’s unknown thousands of stateless people — people with no citizenship whatsoever. Up to now, America’s stateless have been largely ignored by policymakers, despite the fact that they are never able to adjust their status under US immigration law and live their lives in a sort-of permanent legal limbo. “What Mikhail has been able to do was bring the issue of statelessness into the light and humanize it,” said Lindsay Jenkins, an assistant protection officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) US office, which has assisted Sebastian with his case. “This really took a village. It was a great example of how many people are supporting this effort to help the stateless.” [...]

Sebastian became a minor island celebrity of sorts, said La Poasa, a reporter with the island’s KHJ radio who has covered the case. “I think after our last story, people were like ‘oh my gosh, he’s still here,'” Poasa said. “People are sad to see him go, but are definitely happy at the same time. I know I had some drinks with my friends and we cheered for him.” [...]

Last year, UNHCR launched a campaign that advocates hope could prod Congress to include stateless people in much-discussed comprehensive immigration reform. They want stateless people to be given a path to legal status, or at least travel documents that would allow them to travel outside the United States. Previous attempts at legislative reform, however, have failed repeatedly.
That doesn’t discourage Sebastian who harbors dreams of one day being able to travel freely and gain some sort of legal status. He hopes his case and its successful resolution will have implications for other stateless people who live deep in the shadows of American society. “This isn’t just about me,” Sebastian said. “There are so many people unfairly suffering.”

CNN: Stateless gay Armenian man stuck in American Samoa in real life "The Terminal"

UPDATE 16 February 2013: Good news: stateless gay Armenian will be allowed entry back into US



*Via CNN and Huffington Post

In the movie "The Terminal," actor Tom Hanks plays a man who suddenly finds himself stateless when his country ceases to exist. New York’s JFK Airport becomes his only home.

That movie was loosely based on a true story, but for Mikhail Sebastian being stateless is a dilemma that is all too real. Sebastian is stateless.

He is an ethnic Armenian born in Azerbaijan in what was the Soviet Union. He was forced to flee when the Soviet bloc began to crumble in the 1990s. He tried to take refuge in Armenia but eventually wound up in the newly independent nation of Turkmenistan. But Sebastian is gay and homosexuality is illegal there. So once again, he had to search for a home.

He came to the United States and was allowed to stay as a “stateless person.” There was only one catch: Since he still held the passport from the Soviet Union, a place that no longer existed, he could not travel outside the United States – a tough reality for a man who loves to travel. So Sebastian set out from his home in Los Angeles to too many parts of the United States, including the American territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. Last December, he was allowed to fly to American Samoa – a U.S. territory in the South Pacific – for a brief vacation. But while Sebastian was there, he took a short side trip to Western Samoa, not realizing that it is a separate and independent nation.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement deemed that self-deportation and so for the past year, Sebastian's been trapped in limbo, unable to leave American Samoa and return to the United States.

Sebastian says his only wish this Christmas is to get back home to Los Angeles.
***
“It’s horrible here, it’s hot, it’s making me sick, I can’t stand it anymore” Sebastian is quoted as having told GlobalPost over Skype. “I just want to go home.”

Among Sebastian's advocates is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) office in the United States. "There’s a big gap in the legal structure of the United States when it comes to stateless people, and Mikhail has fallen right through it,” spokeswoman Charity Tooze told GlobalPost in October.

UNHCR Review of Gay Rights in Armenia (2003-2005)

Armenia: The situation of homosexuals and lesbians; public perception of gays and lesbians; availability of state protection and whether there exist state programs to promote the respect of their human rights (January 2003 - December 2005)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officially published in its website the above review. It was originally conducted by Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada as ‘Responses to Information Requests’ (RIRs) and published in Ottawa on 19 January 2006.

Background info from Agency’s website:
RIRs respond to focused queries or Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Personal Notes:
It should be noted that this review reflects 2003-2005 years. Since then, some positive changes occurred in Armenia. Particularly, gay or gay-friendly venues emerged in Armenian capital, Yerevan, which was unthinkable just a year or two ago. Also, the first LGBT NGO called Menk (“We For Civil Equality”) was founded and registered by Ministry of Justice in July 2006. It was referred in this review as not yet established “Self-Help Group”.

However, main issues raised in this review still exist and need urgent attention. There is still widespread homophobia in Armenian society and lack of legal protection of LGBT people whose human rights are violated. Gay men and lesbians are subjected to both verbal and physical homophobic abuse in everyday life and are ill-treated by law-enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, due to known reasons, these facts generally remain unreported and mainly based on anecdotal evidence. Moreover, as stated in this review, till now “Armenia[n] legislation does not contain a single provision on discrimination based on or due to sexual orientation”.

Today, speaking to RFE/RL (Radio Liberty), Avet Adonts, chairman of parliamentary committee to promote Armenia’s integration into European structures, stressed his group’s intention to “harmonize Armenia’s laws with those adopted by EU countries”. He rightly pointed out that “laws alone will not bring Armenia closer to Europe. “Public opinion in Armenia is not quite prepared for European integration,” he said. “Many think that it is being imposed on us. We have to explain, we have to work actively with non-governmental organizations.”

I hope Adonts, a career diplomat, understands that EU-like laws mean also equality and protection of human rights, including specific anti-discrimination laws to protect rights of minority groups, in this case, LGBT people. We’ve yet to hear from Armenian Ombudsman if/how he intends to incorporate gay rights into the agenda of Human Rights Defender of Republic of Armenia. European institutions, international bodies and local organisations, along with representatives of gay community, should keep these issues high in their agenda while dealing with Armenia’s European aspirations, which are my aspirations too.

Below is a copy of the UNHCR review (the full list of used or consulted references is available in Agency’s official website):

*Many thanks to M. M. for info about this publication!

Homosexual actions were decriminalized in 2003 when the Criminal Code was amended and the provision on homosexuality was repudiated (UN 2005; COE 12 Jan. 2004, 33; AGLA 1 Dec. 2005; ILGA Europe 20 Oct. 2005; ILGA 17 July 2005; Helsinki Committee of Armenia 2004, 26; Internews n.d.; Sodomy Laws 9 Jan. 2003). This was done once the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe imposed decriminalization of homosexuality as a condition for Armenia to become a member of the Council of Europe (COE 28 June 2000; ILGA Aug. 2000; Sodomy Laws n.d.; Armenian Law Review 26 July 2004; AGLA 3 Oct. 2004). The new Criminal Code was adopted on 18 April 2003 (UN 2005; ILGA n.d.; Internews n.d.) and came into force on 1 August 2003 (ibid.; ILGA n.d.; ibid. 17 July 2005).

However, gays and lesbians still face problems in Armenia (AGLA 22 Apr. 2005; ibid. 3 Oct. 2004; ibid. 5 Oct. 2004; Helsinki Committee of Armenia 2004; UN 2005; Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Secs. 1.c, 5; Armenian Law Review 26 July 2004; COE 12 Jan. 2004; IWPR 21 Apr. 2004; ArmeniaNow 10 Jan. 2003). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that "[i]t is noteworthy that public opinions on homosexuality are rather tough: traditional Armenian society rejects displays of non-heterosexual relations" and

... according to data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (also referred to as 'the Police of the RA'), there were 21 'registered' male homosexuals. It is thus not surprising that information related to MSM [Men who have Sex with Men] is rather limited, reflecting the traditionally negative attitude of society towards homosexuality (2005).

Country Reports 2004 reported that "[h]omosexuals ... also reported that they were singled out for hazing by officers and other conscripts" (28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 1.c) and "[m]ilitary officers targeted homosexuals for hazing. The Helsinki Association reported cases of police harassment of homosexuals through blackmail, extortion, and, on occasion, violence" (Country Reports 2004 28 Feb. 2005, Sec. 5).

According to an article in the Armenian Law Review, "[e]ven though the law on homosexuals has been abolished, homosexuals did not receive the 'legal' recognition by society and the church; they still remain 'criminals' (not by law) or immoral, sick people" (26 July 2004). The Armenian Law Review also indicates that the fact that homosexuality has been decriminalized does not change the public perception nor does it put an end to violation of human rights based on sexual orientation (Armenian Law Review 26 July 2004).

In its annual report on human rights for 2004, the Helsinki Committee of Armenia (HCA) states "[T]he Republic of Armenia legislation does not contain a single provision on discrimination based on or due to sexual orientation. However, society refuses to acknowledge such individuals and exerts social pressure on them" (2004, Para. 25). The HCA also reports "the Criminal Code now contains provisions that aggravate crimes perpetrated on the basis of the victim's sexual orientation. However, police officers continue to persecute homosexuals" (HCA 2004, Para. 25). No information corroborating the HCA's statements could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

According to an article on the Institute for War & Peace Reporting's (IWPR's) Website, members of the homosexual community in Yerevan were trying to establish Armenia's first homosexual support group (21 Apr. 2004). It was to be called the "Self-Help Group"; however, the article stated that it had not been founded as an official organization (IWPR 21 Apr. 2004). No information could be found as to whether such a group currently exists. The source also reported that homosexuals were threatened because of their sexual orientation and that "[f]ew gays ever report offences against them to the police, fearing their families will be notified" (ibid.).

The following information was provided by the president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Armenians (AGLA) in France (1 Dec. 2005): Even though homosexuality has been decriminalized in Armenia, the situation of gays and lesbians has not improved. Law enforcement agencies continue to extort money and blackmail homosexuals, all of which is known by the authorities. Gays and lesbians do not report any of the problems they face as public perception is negative towards homosexuals. Homophobia and violence are "omnipresent" in the Armenian society.

The Council of Europe (COE) indicates that homosexuals are still subject to blackmail from law enforcement officials to extort money from them, that the public still has a homophobic perception of homosexuals and that "homosexuals are still a long way from being able to organise community activities in freedom" (12 Jan. 2004, Paras. 221 and 222). The COE also reports that some parliamentarians demonstrate homophobic attitudes and would like to reinstate homosexuality as an offence (COE 12 Jan. 2004, Para. 222).

AGLA stated that there is no state protection for homosexuals whose human rights are violated and, according to their contacts in Armenia, homosexuals who are victims of criminal acts often face inactivity on the part of law enforcement and authorities. Homosexuals fear violence and homophobia in their workplace or by their family, and therefore, do not file complaints of human rights violations or of criminal offences. When asked whether any state program exists to promote respect of homosexuals' human rights, AGLA responded in the negative. AGLA indicated that they wrote two letters to the Armenian authorities in October 2004, following an incident of homophobia that occurred in parliament, to request that measures be taken to prevent homophobia and to condemn homophobic remarks made by politicians and by the media. AGLA accused the Armenian authorities of promoting homophobia instead of trying to eliminate it (AGLA 1 Dec. 2005).

The aforementioned incident occurred in September 2004, when the leader of the Armenian Aryan Order, Armen Avetisyan, accused parliamentarians and top officials of being homosexuals (AGLA 22 Apr. 2005; ibid. 3 Oct. 2004; ibid. 5 Oct. 2004; ibid. 3 Nov. 2004; ArmeniaNow 8 Oct. 2004; HCA 2004; ARKA News 19 Jan. 2005). Armen Avetisyan subsequently announced that he had proof and would publish a list of senior officials who were homosexuals with the intention of forcing their resignation (AGLA 3 Oct. 2004; ArmeniaNow 8 Oct. 2004). Following these threats, according to the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, "the National Assembly held a discussion during which they threatened to dismiss the officials who would be proven to be homosexual. To justify their statements, the parliamentarians claimed that it was a threat to national security and that homosexual officials who could be blackmailed by people threatening to publicize their sexual orientation were prone to various deals and compromise" (2004). AGLA corroborated this information by indicating that "the government and opposition leaders, [parliamentary] deputies along with media outlets have organised an ugly campaign of 'witch-hunting' and incitement of hatred toward gays" (5 Oct. 2004).