Press Release
Milbank Attorney Secures Asylum For Refugees Subject to Female Genital Mutilation
Attorney Carolyn Walker-Diallo Overcomes Lack of Consistent Regulatory or Legal Precedent For Early Stage Asylum
NEW YORK, NY, January 23, 2006 – Marking a noteworthy victory for human rights, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, a preeminent global law firm, announced today that New York-based attorney Carolyn Walker-Diallo obtained asylum for an unnamed pro bono client from the Republic of Guinea who had sought refuge in the United States after being subject to Female Genital Mutilation (“FGM”). The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau, Department of Homeland Security (“CIS Bureau”), found that the woman, age 21, had also been subject to arranged marriage at age 14 and would be subject to further persecution if returned to her country.
FGM and the lack of women’s rights are longstanding in the culture and society of the Republic of Guinea and certain other countries. FGM is viewed as a traditional rite of passage, and women are controlled by their fathers and then by their husbands, who are chosen by their fathers.
An associate in the Litigation Department in Milbank’s New York office, Ms. Walker-Diallo was assigned the case which was originally brought to Milbank litigation partner Joseph Genova, head of the Firm’s Pro Bono Program, by the Sanctuary for Families, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting battered women and their children.
Ms. Walker-Diallo explained the constellation of difficulties encountered in working on the case: the woman lived in a shelter, spoke only her native Mandingo and no English, and could work with her attorney only through the New Jersey-based shelter manager who did not speak Mandingo. In addition, the client’s husband had taken all her documents including her birth certificate and passport. The information on her daughter’s birth certificate was incorrect which may have further complicated the CIS Bureau’s decision to grant asylum.
Ms. Walker-Diallo based her winning argument on the young woman’s past persecution and the fact that as a part of a particular social group of Guinean women, she had a well-founded fear of continued persecution. The woman belongs to a social group in Guinea of women who have been subject to the tradition of FGM yet have themselves refused to allow their own daughters to be mutilated; and who strongly oppose being oppressed and battered as a result of forced marriages. Ms. Walker-Diallo presented her brief during the initial interview stage before the CIS Bureau, successfully arguing that if the woman returned to Guinea with her daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, then the daughter would be become a victim of FGM, resulting in severe psychological and emotional trauma.
During this time period, the woman faced the risk of repatriation. Although her daughter, age six, is a U.S. citizen and could have been left in the United States, she would have become a ward of the state since her father has not taken any interest in her.
The fact that the woman was granted asylum after only the interview stage of the complex asylum process was itself a victory, since the interview is only the first step of what typically becomes a lengthy bureaucratic procedure. Had asylum been denied, the next step would be to go before the Immigration Judge; further denial would lead to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and then possibly the Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Genova stated, “Carolyn’s successful argument and favorable result is particularly noteworthy, since asylum at such an early stage in the process has not been uniformly accepted by the Board of Immigration Appeals or the Federal Courts of Appeals. In several foreign countries, women at risk of FGM have been granted refugee status under the UN Refugee Convention, but there are still only a tiny number of such cases, and there is no uniform policy in the United States, where decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Carolyn’s outstanding achievement is a great example of our attorneys’ dedication to handling pro bono cases that involve real ‘lawyering’ and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a leading global law firm headquartered in New York, with offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. Milbank is a recognized leader in capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of legal practice. The Firm's practice includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions and global securities transactions as well as assisting multinational clients with their cross border investments. Milbank provides a full range of services to many of the world’s leading financial, industrial and commercial enterprises, as well as governments, institutions and individuals.