“An asylum is given only to the powerless”
JOEL Vega is many things. He is a freelance editor and writer. He is a poet – an extensively published and award-winning one. He’s now finalizing the manuscript of his third book. Originally from Leyte, and a journalist, he migrated to the Netherlands in 1999. In 2005, he became a Dutch citizen. These days he pays 40 percent to 45 percent of his annual income in taxes to the Dutch government.
On March 21, Vega drafted a letter to the Immigration and Naturalization Services (IND) of the Netherlands, to implore the authorities to “refuse asylum to Harry Roque, fugitive, former human rights lawyer and spokesperson of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.”
Like many Filipinos, he followed the arrest of the former President. He was horrified to see Roque showing up beside Vice President Sara Duterte when the latter went to see her father. And when Roque “proudly announced that he had filed for asylum, the noise from him started to irritate me. I felt something was fundamentally not right.”
He felt compelled to write his thoughts. He printed the letter and sent it by postal mail to the IND, and then posted it as well on Facebook. He and a couple of friends put up a petition on change.org. As of 12 noon PH time Friday, April 4, the number of virtual signatures has risen to 26,256.
In the letter petition, the signatories address each condition that asylum seekers in the Netherlands are required to meet.
These are:
1. You have well-founded reasons to fear persecution in your country of origin because of your race, religion, nationality or political opinion, or because you belong to a certain social group. These reasons are explained in the Geneva Convention on Refugees.
Group says: “No, Roque is not being persecuted in his country of origin for any of these.”
2. You have well-founded reasons to fear the death penalty or execution, torture or other inhumane or degrading treatment in your country of origin.
Group says: “No, Roque has no reasons to fear any of these. He was in fact involved in promoting some of these terrible reasons when he was the Spokesperson for former President Duterte. And he chose to be a fugitive because he did not want to present evidence of his sudden wealth and was cited for contempt after refusing to do so…The House of Representatives has since ordered his detention.”
3. You have well-founded reasons to fear that you will become a victim of random violence due to an armed conflict in your country of origin.
Group says: “No, Roque has no well-founded reasons to fear he would become a victim of random violence. Remember that he was part of the previous administration whose penchant for violence and extra-judicial killings are well documented.”
4. Your husband or wife, partner, father, mother or minor child has recently obtained an asylum residence permit in the Netherlands.
Group says: “He has none of these that we know of.”
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After receiving his letter, the IND instructed Vega to fill out a digital form on its web site. It is not obliged to inform him of the outcome of the process, which could take six months, or 12, even 18, he estimates. Internally, there is a strong anti-immigration sentiment in the Netherlands since the victory of the PVV (Party for Freedom).
But if Roque’s request gets through, it will set a bad precedent, Vega says. “It can be exploited by the right wingers to say, ‘See, we should tighten our asylum system because it is being abused.’”
So what’s Vega’s beef with Roque, really?
Nothing personal, he says. He’s doing this because real asylum seekers could be intimidated that their former oppressors would now be walking free in the Netherlands. “An asylum is only given to the powerless, to those who were oppressed, especially from war-torn countries.”
“I hope Roque’s move will be rejected because it’s a naked attempt to abuse the asylum process. It’s an opportunistic request that erodes the integrity of the asylum procedures in the Netherlands,” he says.
And then there is economics. “It concerned me that a rich lawyer with strong connections to powerful politicians is seeking protection.”
With their hefty taxes, Dutch taxpayers contribute to the economic upkeep of asylum seekers. “And I’m fine with asylum seekers – a widow from Syria, an orphan from Ukraine,” Vega says. “But not a POGO lawyer.”
So does this poet even see any poetic justice in the horizon? “I’d settle for the realistic, practical type of justice,” he says. Let Duterte live another 10, 20 years. Maybe his existence will be a reminder for us all. And let Roque wander to many countries and live without a permanent home. Maybe he’ll discover his inner explorer.”
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