Interim Decision #1983 

MATTER OF PATEL 

Application for Classification as Refugee 

A-13788674 

Decided by Regional Commissioner October14, 1968 

A native of Kenya who lived in that country with her parents until her nonimmigrant entry into the United States in 1964, and who asserts unwillingness to return to that country because of fear of persecution because 

of race, is denied refugee classification under section 208(a) (7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, since Kenya is not a country 

within the "general area of the Middle East" as that term is defined in 

section 203 (a) (7), supra; further, there is no indication, nor has it been 

asserted, that Kenya was a Communist or Communist-dominated country. 

ON BEHALF OP APPLICANT: Herman Schaier, Esquire 

8 West 40th Street 

New York, New York 10018 

This application is before the Regional Commissioner for 

review on certification of the District Director's denial of the application for refugee classification under section 203(a) (7) of the 

Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. 

The District Director denied the application on the basis that 

the applicant had failed to establish at the time she came to the 

United States that she was fleeing from Kenya because she or her 

parents had been subject to persecution on account of race, religion, or political convictions; or, that Kenya is a country or area 

that is Communist-dominated or that. it is within the general area 

of the Middle East as contemplated by the statute. 

In an interview with an officer of this Service at New York on 

July 22, 1968 the applicant stated that she was born in Nairobi, 

Kenya on June 7, 1946; that she lived in Kenya with her parents 

until she arrived hi the United States on December 19, 1964 as a 

nonimmigrant student to pursue a course at the Lowell Business 

School in Binghamton, New York; that 'when she arrived in the 

United States it was her intention to return to Kenya at the completion of her studies; that after 1966 the situation changed in 

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Interim Decision #1933 

Kenya becoming such that she would be subject to persecution because of her race if she returned thereto and, as a consequence, 

she has decided to apply for refugee status. She further stated 

that her parents have remained in Kenya where her father owns 

and operates a business and that her parents have obtained Kenyan citizenship while she is a British citizen. 

The applicant now seeks to be classfied as a refugee under the 

provisio of section 203 (a) (7) of the Act in connection with an 

application for adjustment of status under section 245 of the Act., 

The attorney for the applicant has forwarded a brief in connectionwith the certification of the case to the Regional Commissioner. He submits that the statute does not require the showing 

of actual persectuion but that the applicant must show inability 

or unwillingness to return because of "persecution" or "fear of 

persectuion"; that the intent of the law is to grant refugee status 

to one who through no fault of her own finds herself without a 

country to which she can return without being subjected to persecution and discrimination; that the applicant must be considered 

as having constructively rather than physically fled Kenya; and 

that section 203 (a) (7) clearly circumscribes the geographical 

area coming within its scope since Kenya lies in the general area 

of the Middle East as defined by the statute. 

Section 203 (a) (7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as 

amended, reads in relevant part as follows: 

Conditional entry shall next be made available . . . to aliens who satisfy 

the Immigration and Naturalization Service officer at an examination in any 

non-Communist or non-Communist-dominated country, (A) that (i) because 

of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political 

opinion they have fled (I) from any Communist or Communist-dominated 

country or area, or (II) from any country within the general area of the 

Middle East ... For the purpose of the foregoing the term "general area of 

the Middle East" means the area between and including (1) Libya on the 

west; (2) Turkey on the north; (3) Pakistan on the east; and (4) Saudi 

Arabia and Ethiopia on the south. . . (Emphasis supplied.) 

There is no indication, nor has it been asserted, that Kenya 

was a Communist or Communist-dominated country or area. Instead, counsel contends that Kenya lies in the general area of the 

Middle East as defined by the statute. In determining the meaning of the term "general area of the Middle East" the statutory 

definition, supra, reveals that it is the area between and including 

those countries named therein. The southern geographical boundary is listed as Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia. In consulting the 

Rand McNally Cosmopolitan World Atlas, 1962 Edition, on page 

3 thereof Kenya clearly is shown to be south of Saudi Arabia and 

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Interim Decision 4#1933 

Ethiopia and therefore not within the statutory definition of the 

term "general area of the Middle East." As a consequence thereof 

the applicant has failed to qualify for consideration under section 

203 (a) (7) of the Act since the statute clearly indicates that the 

individual must have fled from a Communist or Communist-dominated country or area or from a country within the "general area 

of the Middle East" which is specifically defined geographically. 

Kenya does not fall within this definition. As a consequence, no 

purpose would be served in considering whether the applicant fled 

from Kenya because of persecution of fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion. 

For the reasons set out above the application for refugee classification is denied and the decision of the District Director is affirmed. 

It is ordered that the decision of the District Director be and 

the same is hereby affirmed. 

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