AG Mukasey Rejects Immigration Board's Denial Of Malian Woman's Asylum Claim Over Genital Cutting

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 25 Sep 2008 - 6:00 PDT

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Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Monday threw out a decision by the Department of Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals to deny asylum to a Malian woman who had been subjected to female genital cutting -- also known as female genital mutilation and female circumcision -- the Los Angeles Times reports. Although the order does not guarantee that asylum will be granted in the case, Mukasey's ruling sends the case back to the immigration board and some legal observers said they doubted the board would oppose asylum.

The board ruled in September 2007 that 28-year-old Alima Traore would not be granted asylum based on her fear that she could face repeated genital cutting. In April 2008 the board denied a request for reconsideration (Schmitt, Los Angeles Times, 9/23). Traore also asked for asylum on grounds that if she returned to Mali, she fears her future children, if female, would be forced to undergo the practice (Lee, New York Times, 9/23).

The board said Traore did not have a legitimate fear of persecution because she had already faced female genital cutting. Traore appealed the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia. Some immigration and refugee groups criticized the ruling and sought help from Mukasey. In Mukasey's order, he wrote that the decision was "flawed" and concluded that the "board based its analysis on a false premise: that female genital mutilation is a 'one-time' act that cannot be repeated on the same women. "As several courts have recognized, female genital mutilation is indeed capable of repetition."

According to the Los Angeles Times, since 1996 the U.S. government has recognized, in some cases, female genital cutting as a form of persecution that could entitle a woman to asylum (Los Angeles Times, 9/23). According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women have undergone genital cutting, with a majority of the procedures occurring in African countries (Jakes Jordan, AP/Google.com, 9/23).

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Kevin Johnson, an immigration specialist and dean of the University of California-Davis School of Law, called the decision a surprising but "positive step." Jen Smyers, a policy analyst with the immigration and refugee program at Church World Service, said, "I think the response now is one of overwhelming relief and jubilation...and a feeling of hope that this will set a precedent for future cases" (Los Angeles Times, 9/23).

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