ACCUSATIONS of abuse of power verging on the "criminal" and "immoral" treatment have been levelled against Immigration Minister David Burch following a decision to place a Brazilian expatriate on Bermuda's Stop List.

Political activist Khalid Wasi, who feels the "inhumane" act was a veiled attack on him, made a formal complaint against the Minister with the Human Rights Commission yesterday.

The woman, who is black, was placed on the Stop List because she stayed on the island while awaiting the outcome of her appeal to a Cabinet committee.

She had lived here for 18 years, and after her work permit was turned down, applied to stay for a few more weeks until after her daughter gave birth. The response from Cabinet arrived nine days after the departure date she was initially handed by the Immigration Department.

As a result, the woman is now banned from Bermuda and risks being judged a criminal in other jurisdictions, Mr. Wasi said. And he claimed the strong punishment was delivered only because Senator Burch knew her to be "a dear friend" of his.

"She can't come into the country because she was here nine days after the day she was supposed to have left? She was waiting for the response. She has no criminal record ¿ one driving offence in 18 years ¿ and they've refused to take her off the Stop List. It's criminal. Black Brazilians have suffered more indignations and slavery than anybody in the northern hemisphere.

"For this Government here, for these people who allegedly, at one stage were (espousing) rights and fairness and equity for people because of subjugation, that they would take power and subjugate an individual to that degree . . . For what reason? It's (verging on) criminal."

Sen. Burch did not respond to questions yesterday, but Mr. Wasi said he turned to the Human Rights Commission convinced that his was a clear case.

"I've been to the Ombudsman's Office (and was told), 'We can't do anything about that. She should have left on the ninth'. We went all around. We checked every avenue. There is no recourse.

"The lady has to stay on the Stop List at the caprice or the mercy of Mr. Burch. I'm going to Human Rights to deal with my case because I believe Mr. Burch is doing this for no other reason ¿ because it's so illogical ¿ than because he thinks he's taking a political swipe at me."

A former member of the Opposition United Bermuda Party, Mr. Wasi was behind the All Bermuda Congress (ABC), a political group that formed months before the General Election last December 18 and campaigned on a promise of more open government.

He was equally active in the pressure group Bermudians for Referendum, which collected 15,000 signatures in an island-wide petition backing a referendum on the issue of Independence. The petition was presented to former Premier Alex Scott, and disregarded.

Mr. Wasi spoke with the Mid-Ocean News on behalf of the woman, who didn't want her identity made known.

She arrived in Bermuda in 1989. Married, but separated from her Brazilian husband, she found herself in a situation last year where her work permit was to expire and, given her length of time here, unlikely to be renewed.

An application for a new work permit was turned down and an appeal of that decision denied. On December 31, she received a letter from the Immigration Department, saying she had to leave the island by January 9.

"The day she received it ¿ some things had happened in the meantime," said Mr. Wasi. "Her estranged husband had a stroke. He was in a Boston clinic. And her daughter, who was 16, was pregnant and within four weeks was to deliver.

"She wrote a letter to Cabinet and copied it to (Chief) Immigration Officer (Rozy Azhar) saying, 'Look, there's a family crisis. My husband had a serious stroke ¿ he can't move his arms, put his clothes on, bathe, can't do anything. So he's no use to the daughter. The daughter's in her last stages of pregnancy; can hardly walk sometimes ¿ she's no use to him.

"Can I please stay beyond the ninth to help my family with this medical crisis? I'm appealing to the Cabinet on humanitarian grounds. Please can I stay beyond the ninth?'"

Mr. Wasi said he personally delivered the letter to assistant Cabinet secretary Judith Hall Bean, who promised the letter would be presented to the appropriate committee.

"And she did that. She did as she promised."

The response was sent by post, and arrived on January 18. Dated January 7, the letter said the Cabinet committee had decided to uphold the earlier decision and that she had to leave the island by January 9.

The Department of Immigration allowed the woman to stay a bit longer so she could purchase a ticket at the cheaper fare offered when bought at least seven days in advance.

"I left with her," said Mr. Wasi of the harrowing journey to Brazil. "She was in pain at separating from her daughter, her family. After 18 years she had to leave the country ¿ so much stress and duress."

The woman comes from a humble background ¿ born in a thatched hut on the banks of the Amazon River. Having relocated here for a better life, Mr. Wasi thought it "criminal" that her departure should come under such circumstances.

"Before I left I put an application into the Immigration Department to have her come back as a visitor living in my residence and I would take care of her," he said.

On his return to Bermuda, he received a message to collect the application because the Department was unable to process it.

When he questioned why, he was informed the woman had been placed on the Stop List because she left the island after the January 9 departure date she was initially given.

"This lady was not hiding in a bush. In good faith she went and asked on humanitarian reasons, not personal: 'My husband's had a stroke, he can't do anything for himself. My daughter can't help him because she's pregnant. He can't help her. Can I please stay? I would've thought her request would've been granted just on that basis.

"Let's suppose Cabinet said, 'Yes, you can stay'. Should she have sold off her car before that? Got rid of all her furniture and gone off to Brazil (at a cost of) $3,000 or $4,000 and then get down there, only to come back and say, 'Thank you very much? This is a poor woman. So she waited. Which was a normal thing to do."

Government should have handled the matter differently, he insisted.

"The Cabinet could have called before the ninth with their decision or they could have written a letter saying, given you will get this letter late, on receipt of this letter, we'll give you 14 days. Or they could have told her to come and pick the letter up to ensure she had it in her hand in time. That would have been courtesy.

"But they put her on the Stop List. Any time she has to go anywhere in the world and they ask the question, 'Are you on a stop list?' she's going to be framed as a criminal, an undesirable person. And for what reason? Because she was waiting for a Cabinet decision.

"Now you might think maybe it was a bureaucratic thing. It gets past the date and it's a case where everybody automatically gets put on the Stop List. But you can't hide the fact that the man was in a Boston clinic. You can't hide the fact that the girl was in her last trimester ¿ her baby's born now. It's almost two months old. You can't hide those facts."

That information did not sway Sen. Burch and Mrs. Azhar's response to the situation was equally dismal to the pair.

According to Mr. Wasi, "We were told by Mrs. Azhar it doesn't matter whether a person's married, engaged, no matter what the status, if you're on the stop list you can't come into this country.

"(Sen. Burch) writes back and says, 'She came in 1989, she applied in 2007 to have (an extension), permission denied, she appealed, her appeal was turned down, she was to leave on the ninth, she didn't, I see no reason why she should be taken off the stop list'. There's no other reason I can think of other than this guy's trying to politically take a shot at me."

Mr. Wasi said he was certain his involvement with the ABC factored into that decision. According to the activist more Bermudians are beginning to accept his group's premise that Constitutional change is necessary, making the ABC an increasing threat to Progressive Labour Party government. He added that attempts to have the Premier or other Cabinet members intervene on his behalf have amounted to nothing.

"I laid out the issue about what happened to this young lady and I also wrote back (Sen.) Burch (pictured): 'You think you're punishing me? You're not really punishing me. The person you're punishing is this lady. Every time she sees her grandchild on the Internet, she's bawling, she's crying. Right this minute you're making this lady sick.

"I've talked with other persons in the Cabinet and all of them are impotent as far as being able to deal with this or do anything about it. They all express horror or sorrow at how bad it is, but then none of them have the gumption to go and fix it. It just kind of shows you that right now, this particular party has lost its compass.

"The same individuals would be eager to discuss issues pf economic opportunity to prove to the country that they can govern, they can deal with this economy, but that's only one piece of it. The issue is about people, their life. Treating people fairly. And that's something I thought ¿ at least at one stage ¿ the PLP had as its mandate. They've lost their compass. These guys have no passion to pick up a cause like this. No passion."

His next move is to make civil rights organisations overseas aware of what has happened and to start a petition demanding the decision be reversed. His hope is that Brazil's might as an emerging economy, will hold some influence in clearing the woman's name.

"What they're doing is inhumane. It's criminal. It's immoral. For a person to apply to Government on humanitarian grounds, and because they wait nine days for a response, they're put on the Stop List as an undesirable person? Tragedy on top of tragedy. There's not one person I've told this story to who hasn't come to the conclusion (that it was politically motivated).

"She should have been allowed to stay at least until the child was born. After, call her in and say it's time to leave. They have all the controls in their hands. They don't have to be inhumane."