Persecuted in Africa, Seeking Refuge in New York

Pape Mbaye, 24, is a homosexual entertainer from Senegal. He was recently given asylum to the United States and has since moved to New York. His life was threatened after pictures of an underground gay marriage he organized surfaced on the internet. According to Christopher Nugent, there are very few people granted asylum by the United States for reasons stemming from sexual orientation. I think that there may have been some bias in Mbaye's grant of refugee status. I think that the United States overlooks a ridiculous number of applicants, and the fact that someone can be granted asylum basically based on his influence/popularity in his home country is ridiculous. There are so many people who have applied for asylum who did not have the life he did. He was wealthy in Senegal. He owned two cars with a personal driver, had an overflowing wardrobe, and an apartment in a swank Senegalese neighborhood, yet he was given preference over women who have experienced genital cutting, political exiles, and people ripped from their homes from civil war. There is a problem when our country stresses foreign aid for needy people in third world countries, and then creates ridiculous obstacles for the people who need the most help to get it. The world would be so better off should the governments from different countries work to make a difference in everyday people's lives.

New York Times

Monday October 6, 2008 edition page A22

Written by Kirk Semple and Lydia Polgreen