[Bloquez l'empire!] Six hours of solidarity, Four hundred and sixty days of defiance

[Comité de soutien d'Abdelkader Belaouni]

SIX HOUR SPEAK-OUT ON FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTIETH DAY OF DEFIANCE
Community organizations demand legal status, justice and dignity for
Abdelkader Belaouni

* See photo essay at http://gallery.cmaq.net/460_days
* Below: Text of flyer distributed during the speak out (including WHAT YOU
CAN DO)

On 5 April, supporters and friends of Abdelkader Belaouni held a lively
six-hour speak out in front of Immigration Canada offices in Montreal. The
occasion was the FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTIETH day that Kader has been
imprisoned in a church in defiance of a deportation order. Kader is a
Canadian without status who has been forced to live within the walls of St.
Gabriel's Church in Montreal since 1 January 2006 to escape Canada's
deportation industry. (More on Kader's story can be found below and at
www.soutienpourkader.net.)

Balloons, banners, and upbeat music made a colourful resistance to the
grim immigration building, which is responsible for detaining and deporting
thousands of people every year: separating families, creating fear and
insecurity, killing hope and destroying lives. Members of the South Asian
Women's Community Centre, Solidarity across Borders, Amnesty
International, Ligue
des droits et libertés, Welfare Rights, Comité sans emploi de Point Saint
Charles, RueBrique, RIVO, les Soeurs Auxiliatrices, NDP, Saint Columba
House, Montreal City Mission and Point Libertaire were among the broadly
diverse group who joined in the speak-out in solidarity with Kader's
struggle to live without
fear and in dignity. The Marching Band played and members of the
Voice of Women performed a skit. A pre-recorded message from Kader,
including a piano piece he composed, was also played throughout the
morning. People kept warm despite the snowstorm thanks to the
delicious food served by community activists,
the Midnight Kitchen and Frigo Vert as well as to the hats and mitts
distributed by the crew from the Maison du partage.

While attempts to meet with deportation officials were successfully rebuffed
by security guards, the message of strong community support for Kader's demand
for status was conveyed to Immigration Minister Diane Finley by several
major media outlets who covered the speak-out.

Support for Kader just keeps growing: from his neighbourhood, to Montreal,
Quebec, Canada and Europe. A message of solidarity for the day
was sent by "Asyl in der Kirche", a national, church-based
network for the rights of refugees based in Germany. Support will continue
to grow until the Canadian government recognizes Kader's status and allows
him to live in peace, with dignity.

SAMPLE MEDIA COVERAGE:
* www.metronews.ca/uploadedFiles/PDFs/20070405_montreal.pdf

TEXT OF FLYER DISTRIBUTED DURING THE SPEAK-OUT
(including what you can do and how to get in touch)

Mr. Abdelkader ("Kader") Belaouni is a blind Algerian refugee who lives in
Montreal. Kader was on track to establishing a secure, dignified and
autonomous life for himself in Canada, after fleeing from a situation of
civil war in Algeria in 1996, and later from the racist backlash in post
Sept. 11th USA. But then his refugee application was refused by a
Commissioner who had accepted one person in two years.

Since January 5th 2006, Kader has been under an order of deportation from
Canada. For Kader, deportation would mean losing the life which he has built
in Canada, it would mean being pointlessly uprooted for a third time. He
would be deported first to the US, where there is a very high risk of
detention before deportation back to Algeria. As a blind, Arab, Muslim man
with diabetes-related health problems, he would be very vulnerable in
detention. From the US, he would be deported to an uncertain future in
Algeria, a country he hasn't lived in for over ten years.

On 1 January 2006, Kader entered into church sanctuary in his own
neighbourhood of Point St. Charles after his request to remain in Canada on
humanitarian grounds was refused by Immigration Canada, a decision which
discriminated against him on the basis of his blindness. Kader has a lot of
support: from NGOs such as Amnesty International; from organizations in his
neighbourhood such as the Legal Aid Clinic; and from numerous individuals,
five of whom have offered to sponsor him.

Kader has been in church sanctuary for four hundred and sixty days now. His
life has been put on hold and the church has become a prison to him as the
government continues to stonewall his appeals for Permanent Resident status
in Canada.

Today, April 5th, we are speaking out in solidarity with Kader in front of
the federal Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. All of our written and
verbal requests to meet with the Minister and with Ministry officials to
discuss Kader's situation have been refused.

The Minister of Immigration has the discretionary power to grant status at
any time. In February, she exercised it in the case of Amir Kazemian, an
Iranian refugee who spent almost three years in church sanctuary in
Vancouver. Today, we are calling on Minister Finley to regularize Kader's
status now!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

* Fax, Email and Call the Minister of Immigration.  Remind her that Kader's
situation has not been resolved, that 460 days in sanctuary is far too long
and that many individuals and organizations are actively supporting Kader's
struggle for status and are unhappy with the government's lack of response.
More information on letter-writing is available at www.soutienkader.net. Ask
her to use her discretionary power to grant Permanent Resident status to
Kader without delay.

Ms. DIANE FINLEY, Minister of Immigration.
Diane Finley, Minister of Immigration and Citizenship Canada
Telephone: (613) 996-4974
Fax: (613) 996-9749
Email: minister at cic.gc.ca

* Donate time, money, food and supplies. In addition to creating awareness
and demanding status for Kader, we are always looking for donations for
daily living needs in sanctuary: please get in touch to find out more.

* Download petition from www.soutienkader.net and collect signatures.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO GET INVOLVED

Tel. 514-859-9023
soutienkader at gmail.com
www.soutienpourkader.net

TO JOIN OUR NEWSLIST (for regular updates and appeals):
soutienkader-subscribe at lists.resist.ca