[Bloquez l'empire!] breaking news: two arrested in Toronto

[mfoster at web.ca]

(2pm, Saturday 21 January 2006) -- Two members of the Solidarity Across
Borders network of Montreal have just been arrested for participating in a
popular mobilisation at Minister of Immigration Joseph Volpe's election
campaign office in Toronto.

The picket was called to draw attention to the fact that Joseph Volpe has
not responded to non-status people and their supporters who marched from
Montreal to Ottawa in June 2005 to demand a full and complete
regularisation of all non-status people, an end to deportations and
detentions, and the abolition of security certificates (details below).

It is unknown what charges are being used to silence the two defenders of
justice and dignity, nor when they will be released. The two are
apparently being held at Toronto's 32 division.

==========

[The text below is from a flyer that will be passed out at a picket
sponsored by Solidarity Across Borders of Montreal outside of Immigration
Minister Joe Volpe's election offices in Toronto this January 21, 2006. At
least 50 members of Solidarity Across Borders, most of whom participated
in the No One Is Illegal March on Ottawa (June 18-25, 2005) will make the
trip from Montreal to Toronto. If you are in the Toronto-area, join us at
the corner of Lawrence and Avenue Road at 2pm for our spirited
child-friendly picket!]

-- JUSTICE AND DIGNITY DON'T FIT INTO BALLOT BOXES!

-- WHY WE ARE HERE.

We are Solidarity Across Borders, a Montreal-area network of self-organized
migrants, refugees, and immigrants, and their allies. This past summer,
between
June 18-25, 2005, we marched, step-by-step, over 200km, from Montreal to
Ottawa. From the immigrant neighborhoods of Montreal, to Parliament Hill in
Ottawa, we marched because we refuse to be invisible and silenced.

We marched through the lands of the Mohawk and Algonquin peoples, and
publicly
supported their demands for sovereignty and self-determination.

We marched to support our main demands: 1) the regularization of all
non-status
people in Canada; 2) an end to the deportation and detention of migrants; and
3) the abolition of racist security certificates.

We marched because hundreds of thousands of people live in Canada without
status. These people - our friends, co-workers, schoolmates and neighbours -
make up the social, economic and cultural fabric of cities like Montreal,
Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Without status, and deemed "illegal",
thousands
of migrants are forced to live in poverty, without sufficient access to
health
care or education, and in great fear of being detained or deported, all the
while being the most exploited in the workplace.

We marched on the 10th anniversary of the "Bread and Roses" March against
poverty, organized by Quebec women, and the 70th anniversary of the
"On-to-Ottawa" Trek, organized by unemployed workers during the Great
Depression; we marched in the tradition of those previous efforts for social
and economic justice.

We marched because there is no such thing as an "illegal" human being, only
unjust laws and illegitimate governments.

Our march was directly inspired by Shamim Akhtar, a Pakistani refugee
claimant
and active member of Solidarity Across Borders. Shamim first proposed the
idea
of a refugee march to Ottawa in the summer of 2003. Unfortunately, Shamim and
her family (including 4 children) were deported in the summer of 2004, and
could not join our march.

We marched almost one year later with Shamim very much in mind, as well as
all
our other friends and allies who have been removed, detained, or forced
underground or into sanctuary in the past years: Wendy Maxwell, Shakir
Baloch,
Sergio Loreto, the Cordoza family, the Daschevi family, Zahoor Hussein, Fahim
Kayani, Tilo Johnson, the Isakovs, Kader Belaouni, Khursheda Khanam, the
Arrellano-Diaz family, Dorothy Dube, Fatima Marhfoul, Mohamed Cherfi, Ahmed
Nafaa, Ahmed Abdel Majeed, the Ibad family, the Butt family, the Syed family,
Eduardo and Gorka, Mourad and Nadia, the Portnoy family, the Vega family, the
Borja family, the Ayoub family, the Ayele family, Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud
Jaballah, Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat, Adil Charkaoui and many, too many,
more.

Before deciding to march to Ottawa, we wrote hundreds of letters, collected
thousands of signatures and organized dozens of demonstrations. We have
successfully fought deportations and detentions, but have also seen our
family
members and friends permanently removed from our lives.

Despite our efforts, Joe Volpe, the Minister of Immigration, completely
ignored
our historic march. With his inaction, Joe Volpe showed his contempt for the
rights of immigrants and refugees.

Today in Toronto -- more than six months after we left downtown Montreal on a
collective journey to the decision-makers in Ottawa -- our march
continues. We
join with our allies in Toronto, dedicated groups like No One Is Illegal,
Justice for Migrant Workers, the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials, Toronto
Action
for Social Change, SIKLAB, OCAP Immigration, and many more.

There will undoubtedly be many more challenges after the election, no matter
who claims to hold power over our lives; but today, two days before the
elections, we hold Joe Volpe accountable for his ignorance of the reality of
non-status persons in Canada. Our actions are never taken in vain, but
they are
the result of our lived reality as immigrants and refugees; Joe Volpe must be
made to understand that.

For every arbitrary detention, for every summary deportation, for every
minute
spent in jail without charge or trial, for every anxious and dehumanizing day
spent waiting for status - all the days, months, years that the government
has
stolen from us - we will continue to march and struggle, for justice and
dignity. Join us and take back stolen time.

-- SOLIDARITY ACROSS BORDERS-MONTREAL --
514-859-9023 -- sansfrontieres at resist.ca
www.solidarityacrossborders.org
[January 21, 2006]