Sir, - I could not agree more with Hugo V Flinn's conclusion (May 13th) that it is "ludicrous" that asylum seekers are refused the right to work while awaiting the processing of their applications, particularly in the light of government announcements that we will require at least 200,000 external workers to sustain the economy's continuing expansion. But then our national record on this, as on so many human issues, is riddled with farce, unfortunately often leading to tragic consequences.
But I do have to admit bafflement at his contention that having "worked (in Nigeria) continually since January 1975" he feels confident to "assure your readers there is most certainly not a civil rights problem in Nigeria."
Perhaps he missed the deadly ethnic rivalries, the political corruption and military coups of 1983 and 1985 and, being male, overlooked the continuing practice of brutality of female circumcision and the imposition of fundamentalist Islamic law across all religious groups, particularly in northern regions. But what excuse can he offer for ignorance of the plight of the much reported Ogoni people, and the poisoning of their lands and fisheries in the Niger delta by western oil companies, which, incidentally, are currently demanding to double their production against the expressed will of the delta's inhabitants?
But then these same Western companies would also contend that "there are no genuine civil rights refugees" from this region. And Ken Saro-Wiwa was never lynched either. - Yours, etc.,
Damien Flinter, Clifden Refugee Support Group, Ballyconneely, Connemara.