FRENCH ECONOMIST SEEKS RP ASYLUM
MANILA, March 31, 2004 (STAR) By Aurea Calica - A Frenchman working as a senior economist at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is seeking refugee status and political asylum in the Philippines, claiming political persecution by authorities back home.Marc Cohen, 38, said he was left with no option but to apply for refugee status and asylum for him and his nine-year-old son as the French embassy in Manila refused to renew his passport due to expire on May 19.
To make matters worse, Cohen said the French embassy also revoked his registration in the list of its nationals legally residing in the Philippines by informing him that an international warrant of arrest has been issued against him. The specific reason, however, was not explained to him.
This is the first time that a French national is seeking refugee status in the country.
In his 60-page application for refugee status and political asylum filed before the Department of Justice yesterday, Cohen said he is not a fugitive from justice and that his continuous employment at an international organization would prove his good name.
The application, submitted through the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices, was received by the DOJ’s refugee processing unit.
Cohen’s lawyer, Harry Roque, said they asked the DOJ to inform the Bureau of Immigration as well as the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation about his application and desist from arresting and deporting Cohen.
Cohen traces his predicament to his separation from his wife, Nicole Florence Amoretti, and their battle for their children’s custody.
Cohen claims his wife’s family wields influence in the French ministry of foreign affairs and the judiciary and they are likely behind his plight.
In his application for refugee status and asylum, Cohen gave elaborate details of his former wife’s connections with ranking French officials. He said he and his son should be allowed to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds.
He described his ex-wife as a "drug addict" and who "abducted" their children by leaving Manila on April 13, 2000 while he was on an official trip to Mindanao.
"What ensued was a running custody battle that would eventually attract the attention of many activist groups not only in France but elsewhere because it showed the many flaws in the French judicial and administrative system that victimize many citizens," his application read.
Le Affaire Cohen
Fearing for his children’s health and safety in the custody of their mother, Cohen flew to France to fight in French courts.
He presented evidence that their son and daughter were being ill-treated and neglected but he lost.
Cohen said he was only granted visitation rights even as the children suffered and were transferred from one school to another because they could not cope with the requirements of their studies.
Cohen managed to keep his son when he and his sister were allowed to come to Manila for vacation in 2002.
But his daughter had to go back to France to testify on the custody case. Up to now, however, she was not called to tell the court about her desire to be with her father, Cohen said.
"I am in a very difficult situation. All I want is to be able to work without any hitches and to ensure the welfare of my kids. I cannot fight for them if I lose my passport and I get deported," Cohen told The STAR.
The custody case of the Cohens generated much publicity in France and other parts of the world and was dubbed "Affaire Cohen."
The applicant said he was getting much support from various sectors and people from all over but still could not be heard by the courts and authorities in his own country.
His fate now hangs in the balance as he was told by the French embassy that "clear instructions were given to us — not to issue any documents to you — by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from whom we receive orders."
Cohen is a socio-development economist at the Asian Development Bank and resides at South Forbes Park in Makati City.
He was assigned to the Philippines on July 4, 1998 and was described by his lawyers as well-traveled, holder of advanced degrees from universities in the United States and Paris.
The French embassy first denied his request for renewal of passport in May 1999 because of his alleged failure to comply with his military obligations. The embassy reversed the decision a few days later after Cohen submitted evidence that he had been permanently discharged from the military.
In May 2003, the embassy again refused to renew his passport and informed him about it only verbally. Then on Aug. 5 last year, the embassy alleged that an international warrant of arrest had been issued against him on Feb. 10, 2003, by the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris.
This developed even as the French Ambassador Renee Veyret acknowledged in a letter to Cohen that the "embassy had never been informed by the Ministry of Justice of any proceedings concerning you. Had it been (otherwise) be assured that we would have let you know(n) without delay."
Cohen brought his passport problem to the French Supreme Administrative Court but it rejected his request to order the French embassy to renew his passport on the ground that the applicant could not show urgency for such action.
His appeal was denied by the magistrate, Patrick Stefanini, despite official communication from the ADB about the travel requirements of his duties as permanent staff and senior leader at the international financial institution.
His son was also denied admission to the French school in Manila where he had been previously enrolled.
Cohen took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights — a procedure that would take some time to process.
While the case is pending before the European Court, Cohen was constrained to file an application for refugee status and asylum because of impending expiration of his passport this coming May 19.
"If such an arrest warrant does exist, he may be arrested anytime, be deported to France, where he will be subject to further persecution, political and otherwise, and ultimately be deprived not only of his livelihood but above all of his very freedom as a person, and above all, of his very right to life," Cohen’s refugee status application stated.
"The unjust refusal by the French embassy to renew his passport — clearly part of this systematic harassment directed against him — constitutes violations of his rights guaranteed by the law of his own country and by international human rights law."
Once his passport expires, Cohen loses his right to remain legally in the Philippines as an official of the ADB, which is his main source of support for his children. He said deportation would also be detrimental to the welfare of his son.
Moreover, as a senior education specialist and mission leader of the ADB, Cohen is regularly called to make visits in many areas of Central and East Asia, which he cannot conveniently do without a passport.
"It must also be stressed that Philippine immigration authorities require a passport with a validity of at least six months for re-entry into the country," Roque said. "Once the application for refugee status and asylum is filed, Mr. Cohen cannot and should be deported until after the Philippine authorities deny that with enough justification."
The process is "automatic and explicitly stated in international laws," Roque added.
Robert Wihtol, officer-in-charge of the Social Sectors Division, East Central Asia Regional Department of the ADB, made a certification to support the application for new passport of Cohen.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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