AUGUST 2002
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Wednesday, 28th August,2002
ONE COUNTRY - SPLIT FAMILIES
In the last 12 months Australians have
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become used to the terms `illegal
immigrants`, `over-stayers`
and `people smugglers`. But Australia
is only one country to be troubled by
questions of immigration and
citizenship. The former British colony
of Hong Kong is also cracking down on
illegal immigrants. But in this case,
the so-called `illegals` are the
children of Hong Kong residents, who,
through a quirk of history, find
themselves with no rights and very
little support. Now they are being
forced back in increasing numbers. And
while the United Nations has expressed
concern, Hong Kong and Beijing are
unmoved. Bronwyn Adcock reports. -
Wednesday, 28th August,2002
THIS WEEK ON DATELINE: ONE COUNTRY, SPLIT FAMILIES
On Wednesday, August 28 at 8.30pm, a
special report on how thousands of
families in Hong Kong are being torn
apart by immigration law.Reporter Bronwyn Adcock looks at
the devastating impact this legal
approach is having on migrants from
mainland China who have been granted
legal residency in Hong Kong. They
are being separated from wives and
children who are not yet legal
residents and are being forced to
return to the Chinese mainland where
they were born. The law also means
that many partners and children still
in China are unable to join their
parents and spouses in Hong Kong.
The story of the Cheng family is
typical of those affected by the law.
Mr Cheng left his village and family
in China to become a construction
worker in Hong Kong. This was in 1980,
a time when, in British controlled
Hong Kong, the economy was booming,
and there was an insatiable demand for
cheap unskilled labour. It was ten
years later before his wife was
granted a “one way permit” by Chinese
authorities and was able to join him,
but she had to leave her two children
behind. Her son received his permit
three years later but her daughter
never did and was brought up by her
grandparents in China.
This gradual approval process is
common, and traumatic for those
involved. According to Rob Brooke, a
lawyer representing the families,
there are even cases where a woman who
has just given birth is offered her
one way permit. She then has to
choose, within a strictly enforced two
week period, whether to leave her baby
in China or take the only opportunity
she will ever have to join her husband
in Hong Kong.
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That’s Dateline, Wednesday August
28, 2002, at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 21st August,2002
LORD`S RESISTANCE ARMY
For 15 years, villages across northern
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Uganda have been terrorised by the
Lord`s Resistance Army. It is a
fundamentalist Christian force that
kidnaps children and turns them into
fanatical young soldiers. This largely
hidden civil war has even pitted those
children against their own families.
Efforts to end the conflict have
failed because the LRA has been able
to slip back and forth across the
border into Sudan. But September 11
changed all that. The LRA is now on
the US list of terrorist organisations
and the Sudanese Government has been
forced to evict them. Tim Wise reports
from this remote corner of Africa. -
Wednesday, 21st August,2002
EPHRAIM SNEH INTERVIEW
Palestinian security forces are back
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in charge of the West Bank town of
Bethlehem after an Israeli withdrawal.
The agreement concluded by the Israeli
Defence Minister and the Palestinian
Interior Minister should also see
Israel withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
But Israeli hardliners have doubts
about the wisdom of leaving
Palestinians in charge of policing
terrorist activity. Ephraim Sneh is
one of Israel`s senior ministers. A
Labour member of the Likud-led
coalition, Dr Sneh previously served
as Deputy Defence Minister in the
Barak Government. He is currently
visiting Australia and I spoke with
him yesterday from Melbourne. -
Wednesday, 21st August,2002
GOD`S DECISION - THE ABU QUASSEY STORY
In Indonesia last October, over 400
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people were crammed onto a leaky boat
bound for Christmas Island. 353 of
them never made it. Men, women and
children drowned when the boat, now
known as SIEV-X, foundered. Abu
Quassey, a people-smuggler, organised
that voyage. Since last year Abu
Quassey has been in police custody in
Indonesia. Today he appeared in a
Jakarta court to face - not a people-
smuggling charge - but one of simply
overstaying his visa. This week,
Dateline secured exclusive access to
the infamous people smuggler. David
O`Shea reports. -
Wednesday, 21st August,2002
THIS WEEK ON DATELINE:
Boat People`s Deaths Were God`s
Decision, says people smuggler.
On DATELINE tonight, an exclusive
interview with people smuggler, Abu
Quassey, who describes as "God`s
decision” the death of 353 people on
SIEV X, during a trip arranged by him.
Quassey, who faces trial in Indonesia
today, told reporter David O`Shea in
an exclusive interview, "I tried to
look after those souls, but it was
God`s decision. I want to find another
business now, whatever…become a taxi
driver. I have a child now, a wife, I
want to make clean money." O`Shea is
currently at the South Jakarta
courthouse where Quassey`s verdict is
due by 3.00pm AEST today. Quassey, an
Egyptian national, faces a possible
six year jail sentence or a fine.
On DATELINE, Quassey says he learned
of the tragedy from the television and
was utterly shocked. He was detained
shortly afterwards but as Indonesia
has no laws regarding people smuggling
he has been charged with the simple
immigration matter of overstaying his
visa.
The 400 passengers on SIEV X paid
Quassey an average $(AU)1000 for the
journey. Quassey says he spent all
the money he made from the SIEV X
smuggling trip paying a contact who
promised he would be directly deported
from Indonesia. He now says he
was "duped".
That exclusive interview features on
Dateline tonight, August 21 2002, on
SBS TV at 8.30 pm.
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Wednesday, 14th August,2002
CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO - WINNING BACK PARADISE
The Indian Ocean island of Diego
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Garcia is home to the most remote and
secretive US military base in the
world. Built in the mid-`70s, it
houses B-52s and other aircraft used
in the Gulf War and, most recently, in
Afghanistan. It is also the site of a
US-British conspiracy. Long before the
base was built, Diego Garcia was home
to a thriving community. Britain, who
controlled the island, and the United
States, who wanted it, covertly
banished the local population. Those
locals are Chagossians. Now they are
fighting for justice, and a return to
their homeland. Nick Lazaredes reports. -
Wednesday, 14th August,2002
YASHWANT SINHA INTERVIEW
Pakistan`s President Pervez Musharraf today launched a vitriolic attack on Islamist extremists responsible for bloody raids against non-Muslims in his country. But if those remarks were meant to demonstrate the General`s strong opposition to Muslim fundamentalism generally, its neighbour, India, was not impressed. The world`s largest democracy is preparing to celebrate the 55th anniversary of its independence, tomorrow. The country`s new foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, is adamant that despite the Pakistani leader`s asssurances to the contrary, General Musharraf is still sponsoring terrorism. If the international community thought that relations on the subcontinent had moved back from the brink, Mr Sinha tonight puts the lie to that. I spoke with the Minister earlier from New Delhi.
Read more... -
Wednesday, 14th August,2002
THIS WEEK ON DATELINE: THE CHAGOSSIAN, SACRIFICED FOR A MILITARY BASE
On DATELINE on Wednesday, August 14 at 7.30pm Nick Lazaredes reports on the struggle of a betrayed people to return to their home – Diego Garcia – site of the world’s most valuable and secretive military base.
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Diego Garcia is one of the Chagos Islands, which lie in the middle of the Indian Ocean, north-east of Mauritius. The inhabitants of these islands, the Chagossians, have been living there since the 18th century, when they were brought as plantation slaves from Africa. Officially they were regarded as British subjects and showed unswerving loyalty to Britain. This did not stop the British government banishing the Islanders in order to lease their home to the United States for the base. The British government lied about their existence, deceiving the United Nations, because the United States insisted that the base site be uninhabited. The British authorities conspired to pretend that it was. British officials were instructed to lie about the Chagossians - to describe them as transitory workers from Mauritius or the Seychelles who could be returned to their countries at the end of their contract.
DATELINE presents a chilling foreign office document which shows the lengths to which the British were prepared to go, “We must surely be very tough about this. The object of
the exercise was to get some rocks which will remain ours: there will be no indigenous population except seagulls. Unfortunately along with the birds go some few Tarzans and Men
Fridays, whose origins are obscure, and who are being hopefully wished on to Mauritius.”
The “hopeful wishing” was in fact the direct removal of over 5000 Chagossians by deception and intimidation. -
Wednesday, 7th August,2002
GUJARAT - A STATE OF COMPLICITY
When a Muslim mob descended on a train
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of Hindu pilgrims in the Indian state
of Gujarat in February, the attack
sparked reprisal killings by Hindus.
Over a thousand people died. But as
human rights organisations began
investigating the violence in Gujarat,
disturbing evidence of state
involvement emerged. They claim this
was not simply tit-for-tat religious
violence, but part of a well planned
campaign by Hindu nationalists to
eliminate the Muslim community. Flavia
Abdurahman has more. -
Wednesday, 7th August,2002
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA INTERVIEW
In the 1980s, Francis Fukuyama was on
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the policy planning staff of the US
State Department, as a specialist in
Middle Eastern and European affairs.
Then he wrote a short essay for an
obscure journal, which fired an
international debate. Dr Fukuyama
argued that society had completed its
evolution and that liberal democracy
had become the final and ideal form of
human government. It was called "The
End of History" and at a time when the
Soviet Union had begun to
disintegrate, it resonated around the
world. Well, Dr Fukuyama has turned
his attention to many subjects since,
including biotechnology which is the
theme of his latest book. But the
momentous events of September 11 have
revived the debate about whether
history has indeed ended. I spoke with
Dr Fukuyama, who is visiting
Australia, yesterday. -
Wednesday, 7th August,2002
ISRAEL`S REFUSENIKS - A CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE
Just a few minutes ago, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agreed to an Israeli plan for a conditional pullback from Gaza. But, even so, Israel hasn`t paused in its military campaign to this point. Late this afternoon, the Tulkarm head of the al-
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Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was killed by Israeli forces. Many Israelis, however, don`t believe such actions can stop the suicide bombings. And surprisingly, some of the most vocal
sceptics have come from within the ranks of the Israeli military itself.
Matthew Carney reports. -
Wednesday, 7th August,2002
THIS WEEK ON DATELINE: ISRAELI REFUSENIKS
This Wednesday August 7 on
Dateline, Middle East
correspondent Matthew Carney
looks at refuseniks – an increasing
number of Israeli soldiers who
believe it is morally wrong to serve
as reservists in the occupied
territories.
Carney interviews a group of
reservists assigned to protect the
7000 Jewish settlers who have
chosen to live among the one
million Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip, in a bloc of Jewish
settlements called Gush Khatif.
Built on land conquered in the six
day war of 1967, these settlements
are illegal under international law.
So far 19 soldiers have died
defending Gush Khatif, which was
to have been dismantled under the
Camp David Accords negotiated in
2000. The settlers, however, have
remained and believe it is the
Palestinians who should leave.
Company commander Amnon
Cohen, 34, however, like most of his
soldiers, does not believe in the
settlers’ ideology and, speaking as
a civilian, he says, "We have to leave
all the settlements in Gaza. […] It’s
their country – we have to go and
give them all of Gaza." Nevertheless
Amnon will go back to Gush Khatif
when called next year explaining,
"It’s a conflict in the mind. When I
go there I am a soldier… These are
my people. There are women and
children there. I have to protect
them."
For others, the refuseniks, this
conflict cannot be resolved and they
are saying no to military service in
the occupied territories in ever
greater numbers. There have been
refuseniks before but these are
different – the majority come from
elite units in the army.
Among them is Yaniv Ipowitz who,
after ten years of service in the
occupied territories as an elite
paratrooper, last January refused to
serve as a reservist in Gaza. Soon
after, he and 25 other reservists
published a full page letter in an
Israeli newspaper announcing their
intention to refuse. It struck a chord
and 468 people have now signed
on. Ipowitz says, "I believe the most
religious thing to do today if you are
really a Jewish believer is to refuse
because the tradition of
Judaism…is the moral legacy. We
should know best. We were the
ones that everyone persecuted all
over Europe and all over the world."
For this moral stance the refuseniks
are going to jail in increasing
numbers but they have received
support from an unlikely source –
The Council for Peace and Security.
This is a group of 1200 top-level
serving and retired generals,
colonels, Shin Bet and Mossad
agents. These men made Israel a
regional superpower but now
believe there is no military solution
to the intifada.
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That’s Dateline, this Wednesday
August 7 2002 at 8 pm.
