[antiwar-van] Events/ News

[No One is Illegal-Vancouver]

1) Support Justin Goodman in Court
2) HIV testing and Farm workers
3) Editorial: Regulating Live in Caregiver Program



From: Prisoner Support

Support Justin Goodman!
Remember Kobra and Hassan!

November 2, 2004

Jury selection took place today for Justin Goodman's upcoming November 15
trial on charges of "assisting escape from lawful custody" and "assault on
a police officer", related to the Canadian government's attempted
deportation of two Iranian refugees on January 21, 2003. Crown counsel is
asking for jail time.

Kobra Natghi and her 21 year old son, Hassan Esmat, fled Iran as political
refugees facing torture and death. They were called in to an Immigration
Canada office in Vancouver for a routine interview on January 17, 2003.
When they showed up for the interview they were handcuffed and then moved
to separate prisons. They were both initially denied a lawyer.

Vancouver members of the International Federation of Iranian Refugees held
a demonstration in support of Kobra and Hassan at the Immigration office
on January 20.

On the following day, a demonstration against Kobra and Hassan's
deportation took place at the Vancouver Airport. An immigration officer
walked Kobra past the demonstrators, and she managed to run away and
escape. Three people, including Justin Goodman, were arrested at the
airport. One of the arrested later resolved his case out of court, while
the other person's whereabouts is unknown.

After her escape, Kobra was apparently told by her lawyer to turn herself
in to the police. She did so, and was quickly deported, along with her
son.

Nothing has changed over the past year. Refugees are still being detained
and deported. While the Canadian government "legally" exploits and
destroys the lives of refugees, those who take a stand against this system
are criminally charged and put on trial.

Support Justin Goodman! Show up for his trial!

November 15, 2004
10:00 a.m.
British Columbia Supreme Court
800 Smithe Street
Vancouver

==========================================


Farm Workers Get HIV Ease-up - Sunday 17, October-2004

by Carmel Haynes
CANADA has made an about-turn in its policy of HIV-testing Caribbean
agricultural workers.

In a recent communication to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
the Canadian High Commission informed the Barbados Government that all
Caribbean agricultural seasonal workers staying in Canada for less than
nine months would no longer have to undergo HIV testing.

This policy shift could potentially open the door to more seasonal
workers. According to online publication Medical News Today, HIV-positive
immigrants or people seeking work were reportedly refused entry if the
Canadian government determined they would place an xcessive demand?on the
health care system, which was defined as needing more than CAN$11 890 of
publicly funded health care over five years. The online site reports that
Canadian government statistics showed that, in 2003, 13 per cent of
HIV-positive immigrants were denied entry.

When the SUNDAY SUN contacted the Canadian High Commission about the
policy shift, a senior official from their immigration programme in
Port-of-Spain explained the Canada-Caribbean Seasonal Agricultural Workers
Programme included a medical examination.

The official noted that, prior to the recent decision, HIV testing as a
universal, integral component of all medical examinations, irrespective of
duration of stay.

The Canadian government began testing all immigrants and refugees for HIV
in 2002.

However, the source said: ealth Canada [Canada federal health department]
has made an assessment of relative risks, and came to some conclusions
regarding linkage between length of stay in Canada and prospect for public
health risk.

According to the source no other seasonal workers, aside from the
agricultural workers, have to undergo a medical examination.

The source added: eneral visitors to Canada from Barbados, irrespective of
length of stay in Canada, do not undergo medical examination.

According to the Canada Communicable Disease Report, an estimated 3 700 to
5 700 people (seven to ten per cent) of the 56 000 people in Canada living
with HIV or AIDS at the end of 2002 were heterosexuals from African and
Caribbean countries.

However, according to statistical modelling conducted by University of
Toronto, researcher Robert Remis, up to 50 per cent of HIV-positive
immigrants from the Caribbean or Africa contracted the disease in Canada.


===============================================

Toronto Star
Nov. 2, 2004
Editorial: Time to regulate caregiver program

For many Canadian families, especially those with elderly or ill
relatives, a live-in caregiver is a necessity. For many others, especially
those with young children, a live-in caregiver allows them more time to
pursue careers that require long hours at work. At the same time, for many
people in developing countries, the chance to work in Canada is a dream.

Each year, the Canadian government allows thousands of people, many of
them women from the Philippines, to come here to fill jobs most Canadians
do not want. They leave their own families behind to care for children,
elderly or disabled people with a single goal in mind: to qualify for
permanent residency in Canada.

For many, the Live-in Caregiver Program operates as it should. After
working at least two years in a three-year period for legitimate
employers, caregivers can apply to stay here permanently. Eventually, they
will be allowed to sponsor their own families to come to Canada.

But, as a series of investigative articles in the Star last weekend
showed, the program is riddled with abuse. Some nannies and other
caregivers are forced to work long hours, are paid less than their
contracts stipulate, and have no privacy. Others say their employers have
sexually harassed or assaulted them. Still others pay thousands of dollars
to disreputable Canadian employment agencies only to find there's no job
when they arrive.

Always aware of their precarious immigration status, many caregivers are
afraid to report such abuses. If they rock the boat, they could be out of
work. Many remain silent because any break in employment could mean they
will not accumulate enough working time to qualify to immigrate.

This program is a shameful example of what can happen when governments
fail to regulate the policies they create.

That is why it is imperative Ottawa and the provinces step in to prevent
the exploitation of thousands of vulnerable people who come each year
wanting only a decent job and a better life.

At a minimum, provincial governments should regulate agencies that connect
potential caregivers with employers to weed out unscrupulous operators. In
Ontario, the Ministry of Labour ceased licensing these middlemen in 2001,
saying they were outside its mandate. That move has allowed dishonest
agencies to squeeze reputable rivals out of the sector and prey on people
who are desperate to come to this country.

As part of a new licensing regime, Ontario should compel agencies to
charge employers, not caregivers, for their services. This measure will
help ensure potential caregivers receive only legitimate job offers. It
also will place the financial burden of the program where it properly lies
— on Canadians who want or need foreign caregivers' services. Also, the
federal government cannot wash its hands of caregivers once it lets them
into Canada. Ottawa, which is reviewing the program, must work with the
provinces to better supervise the conditions under which caregivers work.
It should grant some leeway to those unable to fulfill their work
requirements due to abuse. And it might reconsider the requirement that
foreign caregivers live with their employers, a condition
that opens the door to exploitation.

Federal and provincial governments should also do a better job of ensuring
caregivers know their rights and where to get help if things go wrong.

Those who enter this country as caregivers expect hard work, not
indentured servitude and abuse. Canada must clean up this program before
it becomes a permanent stain on our international reputation.



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The No One is Illegal campaign is in full confrontation with Canadian
colonial border policies, denouncing and taking action to combat racial
profiling of immigrants and refugees, detention and deportation policies,
and wage-slave conditions of migrant workers and non-status people.

We struggle for the right for our communities to maintain their
livelihoods and resist war, occupation and displacement, while building
alliances and supporting indigenous sisters and brothers also fighting
theft of land and displacement.