Diaspora & Immigration News, Views

MAY 31 - A Bangladeshi youth held for questioning in the murder of an Orange County, Calif., father and daughter, agreed to waive extradition at a hearing in Arizona Thursday.

Iftekhar Murtaza, 22, of Los Angeles was arrested on a fugitive warrant Saturday at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and has been held without bail in the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix.

Murtaza had not been charged with a crime but was considered a "person of interest" in the deaths of Jayprakash Dhanak, 56, and his 20-year-old daughter, Karishma, Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez said Wednesday.

Their burned bodies were found May 22 along a hiking trail in Irvine, Calif., several hours after their home in the Anaheim Hills was set on fire and the girl's mother, Leela Dhanak, 53, was found badly beaten and unconscious in a yard outside. The mother is expected to recover.

Police believe a second person was involved in the killings. "We have not identified any suspects," Martinez said.

A brief police probable cause statement filed in court said information developed by detectives showed Murtaza was the ex-boyfriend of the parent's other daughter, Shayona, 18. He reportedly was upset with the family because they objected to his relationship with Shayona because they had different religious backgrounds, Hindu and Muslim.

Friends said the Dhanak family was devoutly Hindu.

Murtaza had dated the Dhanak's younger daughter, Shayona, an 18-year-old college student, for about three years, a source close to the investigation, but who was not authorised to speak publicly, told the paper. Shayona had moved out of the Anaheim Hills home and was unharmed.

According to court papers, the young couple had broken up due to family pressure a few weeks before the murders.

Investigators have found records indicating that Murtaza had made calls from his cellphone less than two miles from the crime scene about an hour before the murders, but had told police he was not in Anaheim that day, court records said.

Police investigating the case are still not clear about the exact motive of the attack.

Indian found hanging in Bahrain

MAY 26 - An Indian was found hanging in his room in Bahrain, a day after he returned from a trip to his home in Kerala. Sabu Panjikaran Thomas (26), who hails from north Paravoor, Kerala, was found hanging in his room. He had come to Bahrain two years ago and had been working as a laborer for the Abdul Aziz Mansoor Al A'Ali Company. He had just returned from a two-month vacation to his home where he attended his sister's wedding, Gulf Daily News said. He leaves parents and two sisters back home. The company is reportedly making arrangements to send back his body.

2 Pak students arrested for attack on Sikh student

MAY 25 - Two Pakistani students were arrested after they allegedly removed the turban of a Sikh student and chopped off his hair during a scuffle in their school in a suburb here, police said. A third student, who provided the scissors, was also arrested after the incident at the Newtown High School in Queens suburb of New York City on Thursday. The victim, a 15-year-old student, was not identified. The arrested included 17-year old Umair Ahmed but the other Pakistani(15), was not identified because of his age. Ahmed and the other student allegedly pulled the victim into a bathroom after a heated argument, removed his turban and cut his hair, police said. Police said the accused students face charges of unlawful imprisonment, aggravated harassment and coercion. The New York Post quoted an Education Department spokeswoman as describing the incident as "horrifying" and said the victim would be offered counseling.

Pakistani-Americans more devout Muslims
BY IRSHAD SALIM

Pakistani-Americans in Texas offer prayer

NEW JERSEY, MAY 22, 6:30 PM EST - 57 per cent of Pakistani-Americans attended a mosque every week, compared with only 7 per cent of Iranian-Americans, a survey has found which identified nearly two-to-one (63%-32%) Muslim Americans seeing no conflict between being a devout Muslim and living in a modern society.

The Washington-based Pew Research Center put out today results of its "first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans."

According to the survey, a majority of Muslim Americans (53%) say it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks. Most also believe that the government "singles out" Muslims for increased surveillance and monitoring, with relatively few believing that the U.S.-led war on terror was a sincere effort to reduce terrorism.

With roughly 2.4 million Muslim Americans, only 24% or less than 600,000 are estimated to be Muslims from Arab countries, 24 percent being from Pakistan and other South Asian countries and the rest from other countries he African-Americans, the survey showed.

Pakistani-Americans attend a function at its embassy in Washington

Pakistani-Americans attend a function at its embassy in Washington

It also found that the Muslim Americans reject Islamic extremism by larger margins than do Muslim minorities in Western European countries - having integrated economically and culturally into society far better than their European counterparts.

Politically, 63% of the Muslim Americans identified themselves as Democrats or as "leaning" toward the Democratic Party. Of the rest, 26% said they were independents or had no party preference, while 11% said they were Republicans or leaned toward that party. In the 2004 presidential election, 71% voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry over Republican President Bush -- who got 14% of their votes.

The survey also reported that a solid majority of Muslim Americans say a way can be found for the state of Israel to exist so that the rights of the Palestinians are addressed. In this regard, the views of Muslim Americans resemble those of the general public in the United States, the report added.

The statistics presented as part of the survey show that while there was a steady increase in percentage of foreign born Muslims in USA during the period 1980 and 1999, there was an abrupt drop t0 18% during 2000-2007. Foreign born Muslims in USA comprise of 65 pct, native born 35 pct.

Download the complete report (PDF)

Swami in rape row in Trinidad

MAY 21 - An 85-year-old swami missionary, who is from a prominent Hindu organization in India, and whose trips to Trinidad attract hordes of visitors including government ministers, has been charged with raping a 22-year-old woman at his centre in Philippine, south Trinidad . She had gone to seek spiritual assistance and guidance from the swami when she was raped, according to police officials in the city of San Fernando. The incident is likely to cause consternation among the 24 percent of diehard Hindus, as well as among the non-Hindus and Christians who always revere the spiritual luminaries visiting here. Out of Trinidad and Tobago's one million population, about 40 per cent is of Indian origin. These include Christians, Hindus and Muslims.

Pakistani in Dubai gets $13k punctuality award

MAY 17 - Dubai awarded a Pakistani gardener $13,600 for never being late and for always showing up to work on time during the 28 years he spent working in the Emirate. The bonus Mohammad Nazir, 63, received was equivalent to 49 months' pay from his job with the Gulf Arab state's municipal authority, Emirates Today newspaper said. �I had to take some loans to pay for my children's weddings and education. Now I will repay my debts ... and keep some money for the future,� said Nazir, who took sick leave only once to undergo surgery. �This award means a lot to me. It is because of God's grace that I received it,� said Nazir, a former soldier. (Reuters)

Indians held for practicing slavery

MAY 17 - A multimillionaire Indian couple living in a posh locality in New York was arrested on charges of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves and torturing at least one of them. Mahender Sabhani and his wife, Varsha, who are in the perfume business, were booked in a Federal Court on the charges of using threats of physical harm to obtain services. If convicted, each face a prison term of 17 to 22 years. It is alleged that Varsha forced the two to work from 4 in the morning to midnight and at least one victim told the prosecutors that she was beaten, tortured, denied food and forced to sleep in the kitchen.

Pakistani mangoes in U.S. soon

NEW JERSEY, MAY 17 - While the first shipment of Indian Alphonso mangoes--unavailable in this country for almost 20 years--arrived in Chicago a couple of weeks back, Pakistani mangoes are not that far behind.

Presently, they are readily available across the border in Canada, and in UK, Europe, the Middle East. But there are great possibilities that Pakistani mangoes - said to be of better quality and taste than Indian ones, will be available in USA as early as next summer, a source in the Pakistan embassy in Washington told DesPardes.com today.

A case of twelve Alphonsos is retailing for $35 to $40 as compared to other mangoes which retail for anywhere from 5 to $12 a dozen. Even then, desis are said to be buying them in dozens.

The importers are shipping these mangoes from India by air to cut delivery time to a day, and that is adding higher cost to its selling price.

"We're struggling to manage the crowd. Besides coming to our shop in person, people are calling the whole day to know when the mangoes are coming," said Nikunj Patel, manager of the Monroeville store of Patel Brothers, an Indian chain in Pennsylvania.

The U.S.-India Business Council on May 1 reportedly hosted a mango celebration in Washington, D.C, to mark the resumption of its import and was attended by the US Agriculture Secretary, a news report said.

America's taste for mangoes is growing -- with U.S. demand 99 percent dependent on imports, mostly from Mexico and South America -- at 250,000 metric tons annually, valued at $156 million. By contrast, in 2005-06, India exported 58,000 metric tons of mangoes to neighbors in Asia and to Europe. Pakistani mangoes are popular in the Middle East and its export has been increasing steadily.

India is the world's largest producer of the world's favorite fruit - about 14 million tons of mangoes of which nearly 65-70,000 tons are exported annually. Pakistan produces around 1.7 million tons, but "they are of superior quality", said the Pak embassy official to DesPardes.com.

Pakistan last year exported one lac ton of the commodity, out of which 12-1/2 tons through air freight, said Mateen Siddiqui, former chairman of the Fruit Vegetable Processors and Exporters Association to Daily Times.

Currently, the US market is ruled by the Mexican variety. The US Agriculture Department has said that it expects Indian mango imports could reach 4.9 million pounds a year.

US lawmakers reach deal to legalize undocumented workers

NEW JERSEY, MAY 16, 10:00 PM EST - Undocumented workers living across the United States could soon be granted legal status, as the outcome of meetings between the White House and Senate leaders from both parties seems to have generated a tentative agreement.

Many pro-immigration interest groups hold the opinion that a consensus bill is the "only chance for immigration reform." "There is a good chance" of an agreement, President Bush said earlier today, reported AP.

The agreement reached today would offer virtually all of the 12 million undocumented workers in the USA a route to legal status while shifting migration preferences away from the extended families of citizens toward more skilled and educated workers.

Under the tentative deal, undocumented workers who crossed into the country before Jan. 1 would be offered a temporary-residency permit, while they await a new "Z Visa" that would allow them to live and work lawfully here. The head of an illegal-immigrant household would have eight years to return to his or her home country to apply for permanent legal residence for members of the household, but each Z Visa itself would be renewable indefinitely, as long as the holder passes a criminal background check, remains fully employed and pays a $5,000 fine, plus a paperwork-processing fee.

A separate, temporary-worker program would be established for 400,000 migrants a year. Each temporary work visa would be good for two years and could be renewed up to three times, as long as the worker leaves the country for a year between renewals.

The agreement would effectively bring an immigration overhaul to the Senate floor next week, but its passage is far from assured. The framework has the support of the White House and the chief negotiators, Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). But immigration rights groups and some key Senate Democrats remain leery, especially of changing a preference system that has favored family members for more than 40 years, said Washington Post today.

Family connections alone would no longer be enough to qualify for a green card � except for spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens.

New limits would apply to U.S. citizens seeking to bring foreign-born parents into the country.

Since 1965, migrants have needed a sponsor in the United States, meaning that virtually all immigrants have had family members or employers already here. The new proposal would augment that system with a merit-based program that would award points based on education levels, work experience and English proficiency, as well as family ties. Automatic family unifications would remain but would be limited to spouses and children under 21. The adult children and siblings of U.S. residents would probably need other credentials, such as skills and education, to qualify for an immigrant visa. A number of unskilled parents would be allowed in, but that flow would be capped.

To Republicans, the new system would make the nation more economically competitive, while opening access to a wider array of migrants. "I think you'll find the point system to be pretty well balanced," said Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.).

The new bill called the Strive Act would reform the nation�s immigration policy. Strive � an acronym for Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy � would allow undocumented people to work and travel legally. It would also allow them to eventually become permanent residents also.

There's still controversy over a provision called touchback, meaning illegal immigrants would have to leave the country in order to apply for legal status.

Under the touchback provision, those living in the U.S. illegally (12 million of them) would have to come forward and apply for a six-year "Z Visa." At the end of the six years, visa holders will be able to self-sponsor when applying for permanent resident status. They would pay a fee and a $5,000 fine, then return to their home countries where they would begin a process for permanent residency that could take between eight and 13 years.

Some people see the plan as "a trap." "They have reason to be concerned. They don't trust the government, so they really need to get rid of that provision," an immigration attorney told NBC.

Not too happy about the reform bill is also Kavitha Pawria, of Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), a South Asian activist group in Jackson Heights said the program could become a �report to deport� system for illegal immigrants. Pawria said her primary concerns are with the touchback and �good moral character� clause, which limits access to the program based on criminal records.

One undocumented worker from Bangladesh currently living in Sunnyside was worried about friends being able to come up with the necessary money and even more so about the touchback, reported Queens Chronicle today.

Queens is the most ethnically diverse counties in the country, home to tens of thousands of undocumented workers, mostly from South Asia.

�My job is okay so the money is not that big of a problem. I have friends that don�t make as much as I do and it will be hard.� He added: �I don�t like the idea of leaving the country. Me and a lot of my friends are scared that once we leave we can�t come back.� (DesPardes News Monitor)

Canada to ban foreign strippers

MAY 16 - Foreign strippers will no longer be permitted to bare breasts and shake their booty in Canada, Immigration Minister Diane Finley said on Wednesday, despite a scantiness of exotic dancers in this country. Legislation would be introduced on Wednesday afternoon "to help prevent vulnerable foreign workers such as strippers from being exploited or abused", Finley said in the House of Commons. "The amendment will authorize the minister of citizenship and immigration to instruct immigration officers to deny work permits to foreign strippers." The announcement immediately drew catcalls from Canadian club owners who say they rely on hires from Eastern Europe and Asia to entertain their guests.

115,762 Pakistanis deported in two years

NEW JERSEY, MAY 11 - Around 116,000 Pakistanis were deported from thirty-four different countries in the last two years for either entering illegally or for having engaged in illegal activities in the territories, the government has informed the National Assembly.

Some 73,001 Pakistanis were deported from various countries in 2005-06 and 42,761 in 2006-07, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar told the National Assembly during question hour Thursday.

Bakhtiar said the Pakistani nationals had been deported from Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kenya, Senegal, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, the UAE, Yemen, Morocco, Algeria, South Africa, Niger, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Continental to fly Newark-Mumbai

MAY 10 - Almost two years after Continental Airlines linked New York with New Delhi with a direct, non-stop flight, America's financial capital will now be tied with India's commercial entrepot Mumbai with a similar direct flight starting October 1. As with the Delhi effort, this one too will originate from Newark's Liberty International Airport located in New Jersey, Continental's east coast hub. It will be the first direct, non-stop flight from Mumbai to the United States. Continental's New York-Mumbai flights, operated by Boeing 777-200 aircraft, will span the distance non-stop in about 15-16 hours. Continental will initially operate the service four times a week - departing Liberty on Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays - with the frequency increasing to daily service effective October 28, 2007. Continental says a Bollywood movie channel is featured on the in-flight entertainment system, with different programming provided in each direction for all customers to access on their individual seat monitors.

Indian-origin widow of 7/7 bomber held

MAY 10 - The ethnic Indian-origin widow of the lead 7/7 suicide bomber, Mohammed Sidique Khan, has been arrested in London along with three other people in a series of anti-terror raids linked to multiple bomb blasts in Britain in 2005. Hasina Patel, 29, the daughter of educated middle-class Indians, was arrested in a surprise move early on Wednesday morning and taken to Britain's high-security police station in central London for questioning. Her arrest makes Patel the first woman of Indian origin to be held on suspected terrorism charges anywhere in western Europe.

UAE deports Pakistanis for Dars-e-Qur�aan

MAY 10 - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deported dozens of the disciples of noted scholar Dr Israr Ahmad for holding Dars-e-Qur�aan sessions in Dubai, fearing the spread of Talibanisation in the country. The UAE government has also set a deadline for several other Pakistani families to close their businesses and leave the country after it found them involved in religious activities.

The Pakistan�s consulate in Dubai is reluctant to share details with the media on the subject. However, the Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed the deportations. �They violated the laws,� FO spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam told The News but added that she had no knowledge of the exact numbers of the deportees.

Dubai police arrested around 70 Pakistanis for attending the congregation. The majority of them are believed to be the disciples of Dr Israr Ahmad. About 30 of them have been deported, while the rest have been directed to wind up their businesses and leave the country by the end of July, Bakhtiyar Khilji, chief administrator of Tanzeem-e-Islami - the party headed by Dr Israr Ahmad - told The News.

�The UAE government happens to be very sensitive to such congregations. The police had arrested the people whenever suspicion of their participants to the Dars-e-Qur�aan congregation arose.�

Pakistani Car Dealer in Nairobi Deported

NEW JERSEY, MAY 8 - 6:00 PM EST - A Pakistani businessman living in Nairobi - capital city of Kenya, was picked up from his premises late in the evening and booked into an Emirates airline to Pakistan. Mr Mohammed Ayub was deported to his country following allegations that he had been deported in 2005 but he allegedly used dubious means to return to Kenya.

Upon arrival in his home country, Ayub allegedly changed his passport and his names. He then obtained a visa and traveled to Uganda before gaining entry to Kenya through Malaba Town, a Kenyan immigration official claimed, according to The Nation, a Kenyan newspaper.

He was arrested last month and charged with four counts of being in the country illegally, engaging in business without a permit, failing to register as an alien and failing to comply with a deportation order.

Mr Ayub was a car dealer in Nairobi and the proprietor of Al-Noor Motors. (DesPardes News Monitor)

Illegal immigrants in UK to become legal

NEW JERSEY, MAY 8, 12:00 AM EST - Britain�s largest-ever rally in support of illegal immigrants has called for an amnesty for an estimated 500,000 South Asians, Africans and eastern Europeans living in UK as so-called "shadow people".

The Strangers Into Citizens campaign calls for a two-year work permit, with no access to benefits, for failed asylum seekers or visa overstayers who have been in UK at least four years. After two years they would get indefinite leave to stay � if they speak English and have no criminal record and an employer reference.

The first-ever call to regularize the position of workers living here in the shadows for more than four years draws inspiration from earlier Spanish, German and American strategies to transform the "underground economy" into a taxed and visible one.

The think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research estimates that "regularizing" certain groups of migrant workers could raise up to $2 billion a year in taxes.

Not all agree though. Last year immigration minister Liam Byrne rejected an amnesty � saying it �would severely damage our country�. Such a move would put too much pressure on local services, he said.

According to one report, the Home Office admits it does not have the resources to deport visa overstayers and refused asylum seekers, with current removals running at 25,000 a year.

While immigration is currently one of the hottest political topics across Europe, the results of a recent study by the Opinion Research Business shows that two out of three Britons are in favor of regularization. (DesPardes.com News Monitor)

Pakistani-American investment banker nabbed for insider trading

NEW JERSEY, MAY 4, 8:45 PM EST - Federal authorities (FBI) have arrested a Pakistani-American investment banker and charged him with insider trading for leaking details of acquisitions involving nine publicly traded US companies, including the $45 billion buyout of the Texas energy giant TXU. He was ordered held without bail Friday as a flight risk, and could face more than 30 years in prison, if convicted.

The junior investment banker, Hafiz Muhammad Zubair Naseem, 37, who worked in Credit Suisse�s Global Energy Group in Manhattan, New York is accused of calling an unidentified banker in Pakistan and tipping him about deals shortly before they were publicly announced.

Since Naseem holds only a worker�s visa, he probably would be deported if found guilty, the assistant United States attorney prosecuting the case, said. He was fired from his job on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors said that between April 2006 and February 2007 Naseem tipped off an unnamed co-conspirator (a high ranking official at a financial institution in Pakistan) about nine acquisitions, including the $45 billion takeover of TXU Corp, the Dallas-based energy company.

He also leaked confidential information on deals involving Northwestern Corporation, Energy Partners, Veritas DGC, Jacuzzi Brands Trammell Crow Co, Hydril Company, Caremark RX and John H Harland Co, the complaint said.

�Because many of the subject transactions were staffed by members of the Global Energy Group, Naseem had access to information about these transactions by virtue of his membership in the Global Energy Group,� prosecutors said in a criminal complaint. The complaint alleged that Naseem�s desk was also near a printer used for some of the non-energy deals that he allegedly gave tip-offs about.

The unnamed Pakistani banker, (co-conspirator) in turn, traded on that information in accounts owned by Naseem and himself. He also leaked it to several well-known financial executives in Pakistan, who also profited. All told, the participants made more than $7.5 million, investigators said.

Naseem, is a Pakistani-American who lives in Rye Brook, N.Y.. He was arrested late yesterday at Credit Suisse offices at Madison Square Park in the Flat Iron District after returning to work from a personal trip to Pakistan.

The prosecuting attorney Mr. Klein told the court that shortly after his arrest, Naseem told a law enforcement agent that had he known he was going to be arrested, he would not have returned to the United States from a trip to Pakistan to visit his mother recently. The attroneys seized on that statement to bolster their cases.

According to the complaint, Naseem �regularly and repeatedly� called the Pakistani banker at his home and on his cell phone in advance of a potential deal, federal prosecutors and regulators contend. Shortly after receiving such a call, the banker would buy securities based on the news.

Then, once a public announcement was made, he would quickly sell. He executed dozens of trades, often in an offshore account.

Naseem also authorized the Pakistani banker, who is identified in the criminal complaint as �co-conspirator 1� to operate a brokerage account on his behalf, according to the deposition of the Federal Bureau of Investigation agent in charge of the case.

After confirming in an e-mail message that the banker �can do whatever he wants,� the agent said that Naseem concluded one message with the comment: �Let the fun begin.�

In early February, Naseem had called the Pakistani banker�s cell phone from his office in New York and conveyed to him confidential information about the proposed TXU deal, according to the S.E.C. complaint. He continued to call up until Feb. 23.

On that date, the Pakistani banker bought 6,700 call options, which gave him the right to buy TXU shares at a prices between $57.50 and $60 by March 2007, through a brokerage account at UBS in London, the complaint said.

When the TXU deal was announced on Feb. 26, its stock shot up $7.91 from the day before, to $67.93. The Pakistani banker realized trading profits of about $5 million, according to the S.E.C. complaint.

Naseem, who came to the United States on student visa in 2002, studied at New York University before joining Credit Suisse two years ago, earned a $100,000 annual salary that enabled him to rent a home in the prestigious locality of Westchester, buy a Ford Explorer and care for his wife and children, his lawyer said. Most of a $160,000 bonis paid to Naseem was sent to Pakistan to care for his sick mother, his lawyer added. (Agencies+DesPardes.com)

Pakistanis in UK entrepreneurial, facing bias

NEW JERSEY, MAY 4, 12:05 AM EST - Pakistanis in UK are keener than ever to go into business for themselves, while Indian men seem to be ditching the takeaways and newsagents.

A report by Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the British non-profit organization that commissions research into social problems, has identified various characteristics that incline Pakistani immigrants and workers to self-employment.

On the other hand, Indians are beginning to turn away from self-employment. Whizzes at exams, young and increasingly likely to have been born in Britain, their latest generation is more apt to become doctors and lawyers than restaurateurs, says the report. But the puzzle is Pakistanis, it points out.

Though Pakistanis share some characteristics with Indians, including improved education levels and a youthful profile�they are moving the other way. �Relative to their qualifications, they seem to get lower returns on paid employment than other groups,� said Mr Drinkwater, the author of the report. "That they persist in self-employment may be due to a lack of more rewarding alternatives."

According to the report, the concentration of Pakistanis in depressed textile towns makes it harder to find employment, and unwillingness to move away compounds this. Lack of English is often a bigger problem than it is for Indians, many of whom have been longer in Britain. Religion also play its part. Interestingly, white Muslims seem to experience the same labor-market disadvantages as Asian ones. (DesPardes.com News Monitor)

"Send Home Money" campaign launched in UK

MAY 4 - Pakistan High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom Dr. Maleeha Lodhi formally launched "Send Home Money" campaign at the Pakistan High Commission in London on Thursday evening. UK is an important source of remittance being home to close to a million non-resident Pakistanis, Dr Lodhi said. It is today the fourth biggest source of remittances and these are expected to rise to $500 million this year. The ambassador noted that last year remittances from overseas Pakistanis were $ 4.6 billion and in the current financial year they are expected to exceed $5 billion, which will mark a record high. The month of March 2007, saw the highest ever increase in remittances in Pakistan's history when a record amount of $520 million was received, APP reported.

4 Pakistanis beheaded in Saudi Arabia

MAY 3 - Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed four Pakistanis convicted of murder and rape, the Saudi interior ministry announced. Shah Mohammed, Mazhar Fathel Ilahi, Ijaz Ali and Mohammed Khan were beheaded in the western city of Madina, the ministry said in a statement released by the official SPA news agency. The group broke into the home of a Saudi national and assaulted him, which led to his death. A member of the group then raped his wife and stole money and jewelry. The latest beheadings bring to 52 the number of executions announced by the Saudi government so far this year.

Sikh denied entry into restaurant in Canada

MAY 3 - Gaurav Singh, an Indian-Canadian Sikh and employee of a multinational bank, claims that after waiting in line for an hour to get into the Marlowe Restaurant and Wine Bar in Ontario on Saturday to celebrate a friend's birthday, he was told by the doorman and the manager that he would not be allowed in because of the establishment's no-headgear policy. "What occurred was something I have never experienced in my 25 years in North America," wrote Singh in Face Book, a popular networking site originally developed for college and university students. "I have traveled across the globe and I am sad to admit that the only location I have ever received such treatment was the country (of which) I am a proud citizen. There was no other reason other than my religious head covering." Singh has already approached the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Mississauga-Brampton South MP Navdeep Bains, said a news report.

Amir Khan - a Briton of Pakistani origin U.S. Seeks Closing of Visa Loophole for Britons of Pakistani Origin

NJ, MAY 2 - America's Homeland Security officials have opened talks with the British government in London on how to curb the access of British citizens of Pakistani origin to the United States. There are an estimated 800,000 Britons of Pakistani origins, and the U.S. seeks closing of visa loophole for such Britons, following a spate of UK bomb plots involving citizens with links to Pakistan, says a New York Times report today.

Each year British citizens of Pakistani origins make some 400,000 trips to Pakistan, the article also points out.

However, the Daily Telegraph of UK reported today that British and US officials have denied that the US was seeking ways of imposing entry restrictions for visiting Britons of Pakistani origin.

The report quoted unnamed British officials as saying that the US had put several options on the table, including a cancellation of the existing visa waiver program, which allows British tourists to visit without a visa, or a requirement that British Pakistanis would have to apply for visas.

At the moment, the British are resistant, fearing that restrictions on the group of Britons would incur a backlash from a population that has always sided with the Labor Party.

Rather than impose any visa restrictions, the British government has told Washington it would prefer if the Americans simply deported Britons who failed screening once they arrived at an airport in the United States, British officials told NYT. (DesPardes.com News Monitor)

More than 200,000 rally in US May Day immigration marches

CHICAGO, May 1 (AFP) More than 200,000 activists rallied across the United States Tuesday, demanding an overhaul of immigration laws and greater rights for the country's estimated 12 million illegal workers. May Day protests were held in more than 20 cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York, by a broad coalition of immigrant rights' campaigners. The rallies took place on the one year anniversary of massive nationwide protests which saw more than one million mostly Hispanic workers stage an unprecedented "economic boycott" by skipping work for a day. Police put the size of the demonstration at around 150,000, while organizers claimed one million protesters marched through the heart of the city waving US flags, wearing white t-shirts and chanting "si se puede" (yes we can.) (DesPardes.com News Monitor)

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