[antiwar-van] Appeal from Refugees Against Racial Profiling

[No One is Illegal-Vancouver]

* please post widely *


Refugees Against Racial Profiling (RARP) is a group and network of
refugees facing imminent deportation from Vancouver in the coming months.
Members of RARP along with No One is Illegal-Vancouver (NOII) have been
working over the past few months to launch several campaigns to stop and
fight back against the unjust and inhuman deportations by Citizenship and
Immigration Canada.

RARP and NOII have recently completed an informational package for
organizations, community groups and individuals on the racism rampant in
the refugee determination process, with a focus on post 9/11 legislative
changes, a discussion on Canadian law and international obligations, as
well as outlining the campaign for regularization of status.

This is an appeal to support RARP financially through a donation or by
offering photocopying resources to produce this package. RARP and NOII are
both grassroots organizations with absolutely no current funding. We are
aiming to raise 600$ to cover copying costs.

In the past few months, RARP and NOII have been working intensively on
legal advocacy. Due to the legal aid cuts (only in the past few months has
some limited tokenistic funding been restored), organizers and members of
RARP and NOII have engaged in politically-conscious legal advocacy work
and been drafting legal submissions and sharing legal information to
support other refugees. At present, all submissions have been completed,
yet the filing costs of each individual claim is over 550$. While most are
struggling to pay this (which for one family can total over 2000$), others
are completely unable to meet the costs by the deadline. Any support for
this legal work is also deeply appreciated. Legal defense is certainly a
practical and tangible means of supporting those who face violent and
volatile situations if deported.

If you can donate cash, please send a cheque to "Harjap Grewal" to the
following address: No One is Illegal c/o Palestine Community Center 1874
Kingsway Vancouver, BC Canada, V5N 2S7

Please indicate "RARP" in the memo line of the cheque.

Please also let us know if you are able to offer photocopying resources or
if you're sending money by calling at 778-552-2099 or email at
noii-van at resist.ca. If you prefer to donate by cash, please let us know.


In solidarity and struggle, No One is Illegal-Vancouver

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STATEMENT OF REFUGEES AGAINST RACIAL PROFILING

We have recently formed as an organization to protest against the Canadian
governments continuing policy of detention and deportations of asylum
seekers.

The domestic consequences of the “War on Terrorism” includes massive
arrests and the interrogation of immigrants and refugees, the possible use
of torture to obtain information, the passing of legislation granting
intelligence and law enforcement agencies much broader powers of intrusion
into the private lives of people, pervasive government and media
censorship of information, the silencing of dissent, and widespread racial
profiling and criminalization of Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities.

We reject the logic that refugees are terrorists or make Canada unsafe.
For members of our communities, the handling of cases such as Security
Certificates and Project Thread sends a clear message that the Canadian
government practices racial profiling.

Simultaneously, we are forced to silence our dissent in fears of being
deported.

The new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act promised a Refugee Appeal
division within one year, i.e. by June 2003, which is yet to be
implemented. Furthermore the IRB has been “streamlined” such that the life
and fate of people is completely in the hands of one judge; judges who do
not necessarily have any background in the law, rather who are appointees
enforcing the political agenda of the government.

Increasing detention and deportation statistics and decreasing acceptance
rates continue to criminalize refugees who fight for basic survival. We
came to Canada because we knew and heard about democracy and human rights
in this country and because we hoped to live a peaceful and safe life
while being able to contribute to society. However, we are still anxious
and extremely fearful as the Canadian government has disregarded our
humanity and handed all of us death sentences in the form of removal
orders.

During the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were made the victims of
Canadians desire for security. Their mistreatment was clearly fed by
racist prejudice and this chapter in Canadian history is recognized as one
of the most shameful, and yet is being repeated now with the Canadian
governments unlawful refusal to regularize status for asylum seekers and
the disappearance of hundreds of migrants into government holding cells.


WE DEMAND:
1) An end to all racism in the Refugee Determination system that results
in unfair and inhuman deportations and detentions, including but not
limited to: The abolition of Security Certificates, which violates the
presumption of innocence and right to a fair trial; Implementation of the
Refugee Appeal Divison; An end to the political appointment process and
single-member “panel” of the Immigration and Refugee board that results in
a lottery system for refugees.

2) Regularized status for all asylum seekers


-- 
No One is Illegal- Vancouver
noii-van at resist.ca
(604)682-3269 x 7149

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.