This is a 2011 court case. My hunch is that these Macedonians are lying so they can stay in America. (We can place bets on the credibility of their entire story.)
But what disturbs me (and what makes the story difficult to believe) is that they would say they supported the he supported the Albanians armed resistance against Macedonia.
What also disturbs me is that we are still called "ethnically Slavs". I am writing a letter to those judges now.
Here's the first page of the case, and you can read more of it at the site.
POSNER, Circuit Judge.
One of the nations that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia was Macedonia. Ethnically it is mostly Slavic, but about a quarter of the population is Albanian. Albanian extremists began an insurrection in January 2001; it petered out after Macedonia agreed, in the "Ohrid Framework Agreement," signed in August, to grant greater rights to the Albanian minority. See, e.g., Julie Kim, "Macedonia: Country Background and Recent Conflict" (Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, March 28, 2002), http://congressionalresearch.com/RL30900/document. php?study=Macedonia+Country+Background+and+ Recent+Conflict (visited June 29, 2011). Some violence persisted into the fall, and both sides accused the other of human rights violations. A State Department country report for 2002, entitled "Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of," March 31, 2003, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/ rls/hrrpt/2002/18379.htm (visited June 29, 2011), recounts extensive human rights violations by government forces, including a paramilitary police unit known as the "Lions."
The petitioners, Gjorgji Naumov and his wife, Ivanka Stanojkova, are Macedonian Slavs. In 2001 Naumov was drafted into the Macedonian Army. He refused to report for duty, because he disapproved of the government's effort to suppress Albanian demands for greater rights; he thought the demands justified.
On July 2, 2002, when Naumov and his wife, who had just learned she was pregnant, were living with his parents, three men broke into the home. It was midnight and they were armed, masked, and dressed in black. They rendered the parents unconscious with a chemical spray. One of the assailants held a gun to Naumov's head and explained that he and his companions had broken into the Naumov home because Naumov and his wife were "against the Macedonians" and "betrayers of Macedonia" and Naumov "did not participate in the war" (that is, the suppression of the Albanians' insurrection). Another of the assailants ripped open the wife's pajama top and fondled her breasts. He told her he could do to her whatever he wanted to do. He touched and grabbed her "all over her body" as she cried. When her husband told the assailants that his wife was pregnant, one of them replied that he was not "man enough to have Macedonian kids." Naumov tried to defend his wife but his attacker beat him on the head and back with his gun, causing bruises and swelling. When his wife's assailant tried to rip off her pajama bottoms she screamed very loudly, whereupon all three attackers left—though not before taking the Naumovs' money and jewelry. She was afraid she would lose the baby, and visited her doctor the next day; he found nothing wrong, and the pregnancy proceeded normally.
The police—whom Naumov had called as soon as the attackers left—didn't arrive until six hours later. They told him the assailants were "Lions," the implication being that the ordinary police, the police who had come in response to Naumov's call, couldn't protect the Naumovs because the Lions were fellow police, presumably more influential than ordinary police because of their paramilitary character. So two days after the attack the Naumovs fled the country. Eventually they came to the United States, but without a visa. Removal proceedings were instituted. The couple asked for asylum and other relief, but the immigration judge denied all relief and ordered them removed to Macedonia. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed in a perfunctory opinion by a "panel" consisting of one member of the Board.
The petitioners missed their deadline for seeking asylum, but remain eligible for withholding of removal and for deferral of removal on account of torture, although they do not press the torture claim, so we'll ignore it.
Withholding of removal (8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)) requires a determination that the applicant (in this case applicants) will more likely than not be subjected to persecution if removed from the United States. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430 (1987); Toure v. Holder, 624 F.3d 422, 428 (7th Cir. 2010); Quao Lin Dong v. U.S. Attorney General, 638 F.3d 223, 228 (3d Cir. 2011). A finding of past persecution creates a rebuttable presumption of future persecution. 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16(b)(1)(i), 1208.16(b)(1)(i). The Naumovs rely on the presumption.
But what disturbs me (and what makes the story difficult to believe) is that they would say they supported the he supported the Albanians armed resistance against Macedonia.
What also disturbs me is that we are still called "ethnically Slavs". I am writing a letter to those judges now.
Here's the first page of the case, and you can read more of it at the site.
POSNER, Circuit Judge.
One of the nations that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia was Macedonia. Ethnically it is mostly Slavic, but about a quarter of the population is Albanian. Albanian extremists began an insurrection in January 2001; it petered out after Macedonia agreed, in the "Ohrid Framework Agreement," signed in August, to grant greater rights to the Albanian minority. See, e.g., Julie Kim, "Macedonia: Country Background and Recent Conflict" (Congressional Research Service, CRS Report for Congress, March 28, 2002), http://congressionalresearch.com/RL30900/document. php?study=Macedonia+Country+Background+and+ Recent+Conflict (visited June 29, 2011). Some violence persisted into the fall, and both sides accused the other of human rights violations. A State Department country report for 2002, entitled "Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of," March 31, 2003, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/ rls/hrrpt/2002/18379.htm (visited June 29, 2011), recounts extensive human rights violations by government forces, including a paramilitary police unit known as the "Lions."
The petitioners, Gjorgji Naumov and his wife, Ivanka Stanojkova, are Macedonian Slavs. In 2001 Naumov was drafted into the Macedonian Army. He refused to report for duty, because he disapproved of the government's effort to suppress Albanian demands for greater rights; he thought the demands justified.
On July 2, 2002, when Naumov and his wife, who had just learned she was pregnant, were living with his parents, three men broke into the home. It was midnight and they were armed, masked, and dressed in black. They rendered the parents unconscious with a chemical spray. One of the assailants held a gun to Naumov's head and explained that he and his companions had broken into the Naumov home because Naumov and his wife were "against the Macedonians" and "betrayers of Macedonia" and Naumov "did not participate in the war" (that is, the suppression of the Albanians' insurrection). Another of the assailants ripped open the wife's pajama top and fondled her breasts. He told her he could do to her whatever he wanted to do. He touched and grabbed her "all over her body" as she cried. When her husband told the assailants that his wife was pregnant, one of them replied that he was not "man enough to have Macedonian kids." Naumov tried to defend his wife but his attacker beat him on the head and back with his gun, causing bruises and swelling. When his wife's assailant tried to rip off her pajama bottoms she screamed very loudly, whereupon all three attackers left—though not before taking the Naumovs' money and jewelry. She was afraid she would lose the baby, and visited her doctor the next day; he found nothing wrong, and the pregnancy proceeded normally.
The police—whom Naumov had called as soon as the attackers left—didn't arrive until six hours later. They told him the assailants were "Lions," the implication being that the ordinary police, the police who had come in response to Naumov's call, couldn't protect the Naumovs because the Lions were fellow police, presumably more influential than ordinary police because of their paramilitary character. So two days after the attack the Naumovs fled the country. Eventually they came to the United States, but without a visa. Removal proceedings were instituted. The couple asked for asylum and other relief, but the immigration judge denied all relief and ordered them removed to Macedonia. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed in a perfunctory opinion by a "panel" consisting of one member of the Board.
The petitioners missed their deadline for seeking asylum, but remain eligible for withholding of removal and for deferral of removal on account of torture, although they do not press the torture claim, so we'll ignore it.
Withholding of removal (8 U.S.C. § 1231(b)(3)) requires a determination that the applicant (in this case applicants) will more likely than not be subjected to persecution if removed from the United States. INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 430 (1987); Toure v. Holder, 624 F.3d 422, 428 (7th Cir. 2010); Quao Lin Dong v. U.S. Attorney General, 638 F.3d 223, 228 (3d Cir. 2011). A finding of past persecution creates a rebuttable presumption of future persecution. 8 C.F.R. §§ 208.16(b)(1)(i), 1208.16(b)(1)(i). The Naumovs rely on the presumption.
Comment