In 2001, a case of unprosecuted child rape was brought to the attention of IJM’s office in the Philippines. Alina*, then 11 years old, had been assaulted by a man named Santos Rosos, who was the Chief of Police of Almeria in Biliran, a province in central Philippines.

On the evening of March 24, 2006, Jeremiah* reported to work as usual as a night guard in a gated community in Nairobi, Kenya.

While he was on duty, a white car pulled up to the gate. Jeremiah walked towards the gate from his nearby shed to question the occupants, as guards are trained not to open the gate for strangers. The driver told Jeremiah that he was a cab driver hired to drive the occupants, who were sleeping in the back of the cab. Jeremiah was adamant about knowing their identity and requested that they get out of the vehicle so that he could identify them. Immediately two men got out of the car and approached the gate. They pulled out guns and pointed them towards Jeremiah. They ordered him to kneel down and raise his hands or else they would kill him. The perpetrators then bundled him in the rear of the vehicle, drove off and later threw him out of the moving car.

As 2006 drew to a close, the District Officer in Mae Ai, Thailand, approved citizenship applications for 124 villagers who received documentation assistance from IJM throughout the year. This brings the total number of approved citizenship applications to 455 people as a result of IJM’s citizenship documentation work in Thailand in 2006.