What's new

A Former Scientologist Got A Protection Visa As A Victim Of Human Trafficking

CommunicatorIC

@IndieScieNews on Twitter
A Former Scientologist Got A Protection Visa As A Victim Of Human Trafficking

An article based on Steve Cannane's book Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia that deserves its own thread.

Buzzfeed: A Former Scientologist Got A Protection Visa As A Victim Of Human Trafficking

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ginarushto...as-a-victim-of?utm_term=.xpLPN9q2b#.eymQMXrxK

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

A Former Scientologist Got A Protection Visa As A Victim Of Human Trafficking

With the help of lawyers and the Red Cross, Jose Navarro is living a new life in Australia after leaving Scientology.

posted on Sept. 22, 2016, at 6:57 p.m.

Gina Rushton
BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Venezuelan man Jose Navarro was 20 when he became a Scientologist and went aboard Freewinds, the church’s 440-foot luxury cruise ship, as a chef in 1993.

[SNIP]

But once Navarro admitted to having pre-marital sex with a fellow trainee in 2006, he was sent off Freewinds and to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) centre in Australia.

[SNIP]

After two and a half years at the RPF, which the Church of Scientology maintains was a voluntary religious retreat, Navarro told Cannane he escaped in 2010 when he was taken to the church’s building in Glebe.

With just $30 in his pocket he spent a week sleeping in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, eating one meal a day from McDonalds.

Eventually he found a woman who had also escaped from the church and she helped organise share accommodation.

He was referred to the Australian Federal Police’s human trafficking unit where, with the help of the Red Cross and Anti-Slavery Australia, he secured a protection visa and permanent residency in Australia on the grounds that he was a victim of human trafficking.

[SNIP]


* * * * * END EXCERPT * * * * *
 

BunnySkull

Silver Meritorious Patron
It's a different system in the USA (nice that OZ has a specific protective Visa) but I remember two different ex-SO in the USA who got "credible fear" determination from USA asylum officers. People afraid to return home because they had fled the cult and feared persecution from it. This is no small feat because ICE and the US immigration system are well known hard asses on such matters.

I mention this because I hope if there are any ex-SO out there who have fled the cult in the USA, and their visa is now expired and they are living in fear illegally, they might read this and discover this is an option for them. I would advise they get an attorney first, but it's an avenue open to them due to the cult's harassment and the fear they live in due to it.

In fact, any Ex-SO in any western nation could apply for such protections. They history of harassment the cult has against former members establishes very clear evidence for claims of protections and asylum for people who have been trafficked by the cult.
 
Top