[FA Worldmusic] immigration woes part 2: who will be next?!?

Wed Jun 25 17:18:58 ADT 2008

If you didn't see this yet, might be amused by this press release from
and state department briefing transcript re Boy George... not
particularly pertinent to out particular concerns here, but still
worth a chuckle.. and of course, as you can tell by the wording, this
comes from Boy George's publicist:

US State Department Questioned On Boy George Visa Denial
Department Official asks, Do you really want to hurt him?

http://www.boygeorgelive.com
The US State Department, which handles all US foreign affairs, had an
unusual topic to address at their press briefing yesterday. Amid
discussion of pressing international topics like Iran, Afghanistan and
Albania, the conversation turned to Boy George. The departments
Deputy Spokesman, Tom Casey, choked on his drink when asked what the
department has against the singer who recently denied a visa to travel
to the US for his first solo tour in a decade (transcript and link to
video below). In response, Mr. Casey made a reference to one of
Culture Clubs many hits asking, Do you really want to hurt him?
before changing the subject back to international affairs.

Boy George is an internationally known artist who has sold 50 million
albums and 100 million singles over the course of his career. The
singers upcoming US tour includes a free show for the workers of the
New York Department of Sanitation and their families at DSNY Family
Day to express his gratitude for their kindness when he worked with
the DSNY in 2006.  George is currently appealing to reverse the State
Departments decision.

Link to US State Department press briefing video:
http://video.state.gov/?fr_story=c7e89adbf6e6c8a04e16a62045b27b3fc4ef1dde
  <http://video.state.gov/?fr_story=c7e89adbf6e6c8a04e16a62045b27b3fc4ef1dde
 >

Transcript of June 24 press briefing:

QUESTION: And what does the U.S. Government have against Boy George 
(laughter)  You denied him a visa.

MR. CASEY: Sorry, I should have swallowed before you said that.
(Laughter.) Lets see if I spit the water over any place else.
(Laughter.)

Ive seen the report thats out there. Obviously, visa records are
confidential. But Id simply note that there often are difficulties
for individuals who either are currently subject to criminal charges
or otherwise may have criminal records. So I think you might want to
look toward some of those reasons as why he might be having some
difficulties here.

QUESTION: Its tragic really.

MR. CASEY: Do you really want to hurt him? (Laughter.)

Yeah, Libby.

QUESTION: Switch topics from Boy George?

MR. CASEY: Yes, please.

QUESTION: Tom, we talked about this at the gaggle a little bit this
morning, but how do you respond to these allegations that the U.S.
Ambassador to Albania helped cover-up the Chinese origins of
ammunition that was purchased by a Pentagon contractor for Afghanistan
security forces? (Inaudible.)

MR. CASEY: Well, look, let me try and  we talked about this a little
bit yesterday as well, and let me  I dont think I have much to add.
But let me try and, you know, tell you where we see this.

Around the World
http://www.spinner.com/category/around-the-world/

On Jun 25, 2008, at 12:17 PM, Paul Harding wrote:

> Speaking of these bands, does anyone know if the new Kasai
> Allstars new album is going to hit the US any time soon?
> They were my favorite on Congotronics 2 and I can't wait
> to hear more!!
>
> Paul Harding
>
>
>
>> FYI. Konono no 1 and Kasai Allstars' European tours were
>> canceled this
>> month due to UK and Schengen visa issues. They were
>> scheduled to carry out
>> extensive European tours this summer.
>>
>> Angel Romero
>> World Music Central
>>
>>> I find the tone of the Boy George coverage I've seen odd
>>> too. Which,
>>> for the record, I blogged about today at the CBC Radio
>>> 2's blog.
>>> http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/blog/
>>>
>>> But I just touched on the issue in a general way. I know
>>> much has
>>> been written about immigration matters in this group --
>>> but does
>>> anyone know of a comprehensive online source of info on
>>> this that one
>>> could steer/link others to?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Li
>>> On 25-Jun-08, at 1:10 PM, Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> At 08:28 PM 6/24/2008, Timothy Bisig wrote:
>>>>> http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/24/boygeorge.visa/index.html
>>>>>
>>>>> will the madness never end?
>>>>
>>>> I've just gotten my 6th press release about Boy
>>>> George's visa
>>>> troubles, and I've got to say that I'm less than
>>>> enthused by the
>>>> prospects of having our *very* real and serious
>>>> barriers to cultural
>>>> exchange adopt this story -- or, for that matter Papa
>>>> Wemba's visa
>>>> trouble following his conviction for illegal immigrant
>>>> smuggling --
>>>> as any kind of cause celeb. I do get that Boy George is
>>>> innocent
>>>> until proven guilty, but the charges against him
>>>> ("imprisoning a man
>>>> in his home") certainly seem pretty serious, and I
>>>> *can* understand
>>>> why he could be seen as legitimate cause to deny him
>>>> the visa. (It's
>>>> certainly not "madness." Please.)
>>>>
>>>> Doesn't taking up this argument empower the
>>>> isolationists who can
>>>> easily brush this off with a chuckle and a simple "of
>>>> course"? I'd
>>>> rather focus the discussion on the serious artists --
>>>> without pending
>>>> criminal charges -- who are being denied visas or who
>>>> are being
>>>> extorted for crippling processing fees, etc. Is it just
>>>> me? Or do
>>>> others agree that we lose every time we let the story
>>>> shift to
>>>> examples where reasonable people likely couldn't figure
>>>> out why
>>>> denying such a visa is a problem?
>>>> _____________________________________
>>>> Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!
>>>> P.O. Box 5460 (for UPS: 512 E. 4th St.)
>>>> Bethlehem, PA 18015
>>>> Ph: 610-865-5366 x203 (cell: 610-533-4506)
>>>> Fx: 610-865-5129 (efax: 215-895-3052)
>>>> Toll Free (orders only!): 888-SING-OUT
>>>> E-mail: mark at singout.org
>>>> Web: http://www.singout.org
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