[van-announce] URGENT! STOP THE DEPORTATION OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES FROM CANADA - Phone, Fax & Email the Minister of Citizenship & Immigration

[Stefan Christoff]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2003 01:06:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: refugees at riseup.net


STOP THE DEPORTATION OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES FROM CANADA
A ONE WEEK PHONE, FAX & EMAIL CAMPAIGN

Call, Fax & Email the office of the Minister of Immigration & Citizenship
Denis Coderre
EVERY DAY! From Monday August 25th to Friday August 29th 2003.

Support the Palestinian Refugees facing deportation from Canada!

This is a call for a phone, fax & email campaign to the office of the
Minister of Immigration & Citizenship Denis Coderre in support of over 100
Palestinian refugees who are facing deportation from Canada. This is an
extremely urgent situation as some of the Palestinian refugees have
already received deportation orders. The Palestinian refugees are mostly
from the refugee camps of Lebanon and from Occupied Palestine who have
claimed refugee status in Canada over the last couple of years.

Delegations from Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver went to Immigration
Canada offices on Monday July 21st and Tuesday July 22nd to demand a
meeting with the Minister and to hand deliver the letter signed by over
100 organizations across Canada (SEE LETTER BELOW). Other delegations went
to Canadian Embassies & Consulates in New York, San Francisco, San Jose as
well as London (UK), Paris (France), Dubai (UAE), Cairo (Egypt), Beirut
(Lebanon) to hand deliver the same letter to Canadian Immigration
officials and embassadors.

The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees is now
calling once again for organizations & individuals throughout Montreal and
Canada to phone, fax and email the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship
Denis Coderre's office to express their support for the two demands of the
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian refugees.

Those demands are:
1. Immediately stop all deportations of Palestinian refugees.

2. Accept Palestinian refugee claims, thus giving them the title of Landed
Status in Canada.

The contact information of the Ottawa office of the Minister of
Citizenship and Immigration, Denis Coderre, is:
Phone:  (613) 957-0312
Fax: (613) 957-2688
Email: Minister at cic.gc.ca

His contact information in the House of Commons is:
House of Commons
Phone: (613) 995-6108
Fax: (613) 995-9755
Email: coderd at parl.gc.ca

His Montreal office contact information is:
Constituency Office(s)
Phone: (514) 323-1212
Fax: (514) 323-2875
Email: Coderd1 at parl.gc.ca

Please CC refugees at riseup.net when you email the Minister's office.

In Solidarity,
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees
For more information:
refugees at riseup.net - 514.591.3171

-----------------------------------------------

Honourable Denis Coderre
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Jean-Edmonds Tower South, 21st Floor
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1

Subject: Palestinian Refugees in Montreal

Dear Minister Coderre:

In Montreal, there are over 100 Palestinian refugee claimants facing
deportation in the coming days, weeks, and months. They are from the
refugee camps of Lebanon and from the Occupied Territories.

The Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are forbidden from owning property,
working in over 78 professions, receiving proper health care, and moving
and traveling freely. These are only a few of the persecutory measures and
discriminatory restrictions the Palestinian refugees have to face.
Moreover, the intensified mistreatment of Palestinian refugees inside the
camps has left their lives in real and immediate peril.

As for the Palestinians who have escaped the dire situation in the
Occupied Territories, very little need be said as to the terror they face
daily and routinely. They have fled from the killings, extrajudicial
assassinations, house demolitions, illegal arrests, trials without
evidence, torture, land confiscations, and constant humiliations.

Facing evident persecution, it is deplorable and unacceptable that a
significant number of these refugees are being rejected and deported. It
is evident, upon examination of the Palestinian refugee claimants cases
that:

- The IRB demonstrated insensitivity and ignorance to the facts on the
ground.

- Some IRB members have taken clear political positions which contradict
that of both Canada and the International Community as demonstrated by the
following statement: "The panel believes that, on a whole, documentary
evidence indicates that the violence in the Middle East is part of
Israel's attempts at establishing secure political frontiers and
preventing terrorist attacks on its territory.  Documentary evidence does
not reveal that there exists a systematic will on the part of the Israeli
military authorities to systematically persecute and exterminate the
Palestinian population while doing so, despite the horrors caused in the
war-torn areas."

- There is a clear inconsistency in decision-making, where one claim will
be accepted under the Convention, while an identical claim will be turned
down, in some cases leading to the separation of brothers and sisters.

Therefore we demand the following:

1. Immediately stop all deportations of Palestinian refugees.

2. Accept Palestinian refugee claims, thus giving them the title of Landed
Status in Canada.

We urge you to meet with the Coalition against the Deportation of
Palestinian Refugees in order to discuss these very serious matters.

Best regards,
The undersigned organizations and groups:

1.  Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees/ Coalition
contre la déportation des réfugiés palestiniens
2.  Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale
(AQOCI), Montreal
3.  Alternatives, Montreal
4.  Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians, Capital Region
5.  Anti-Capitalist Community Action Ottawa (ACA), Ottawa
6.  The Anti-Capitalist Convergence of Montreal (CLAC), Montreal
7.  Al-Awda, Vancouver
8.  Al-Awda, Toronto
9.  Al-Awda, Ottawa
10.  Al-Awda Egypt, Cairo, Egypt
11.  Al-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Victims of Violence,
Cairo, Egypt
12.  AnNahda, Montreal
13.  Arab-palestine Association-BC, Vancouver
14.  Arab Palestine Association of Ontario, Toronto
15.  Bête Noire (NEFAC), Montreal
16.  Block the Empire/Bloquez l'Empire, Montreal
17.  Comité d'action des sans-status algériens, Montreal
18.  Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec (CPF-Q), Montreal
19.  Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Ottawa
20.  Canadian Federation of Students (CFS-Q), Quebec
21.  Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), Canada
22.  Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF), Montreal
23.  Canadian Palestinian Centre, Ottawa
24.  Canaanite Canadian Knowledge Centre, Ottawa
25.  Canadians for Equality and Peace for Palestinians (CEPPal), Edmenton
26.  Canadian Auto Workers Local 199, St Catharines and District
27.  Centre Femmes Verdun, Quebec
28.  Canadian Palestinian Congress, Toronto
29.  Canada Palestine Trade Council, Toronto
30.  Calgary Coalition for Peace & Anti-Racism, Calgary
31.  Canadian Council of Muslim Women (Montreal chapter), Montreal 32.
CKUT Radio, Montreal
33.  Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI), New York 34.
Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP), Toronto
35.  Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain (CSN), Montreal
36.  Comité régional d'éducation pour le développement international de
Lanaudière (CREDIL)
37.  The Communist League, Montreal
38.  Dar Al-Arqam, Montreal
39.  Direct Action Casework Ottawa (DACO), Ottawa
40.  Dragon Root Center for Gender Advocacy, Montreal
41.  L'Entraide missionnaire, Montreal
42.  The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Cairo Egypt.
43.  Fire Women & Trans of Colour Collective, Montreal
44.  Freedom School, Montreal
45.  The Free Press, of Kitchener, Ontario
46.  Human Concern International, Ottawa
47.  Iranian Women's Association of Montreal, Montreal
48.  International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Montreal
49.  International Solidarity Movement - Northern California, Berkeley,
CA, USA.
50.  Islamic Association for Palestine In North America, IL, USA.
51.  Jews Against The Occupation, New York City, USA.
52.  Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation, Montreal
53.  A Jewish Voice for Peace, Oakland, CA, USA.
54.  Justice for Palestinians, San Jose, CA, USA.
55.  Kingston for Palestinian Human Rights, Kingston
56.  Libertas Legal Collective, Montreal
57.  McGill Radical Law Community, Montreal
58.  McMaster Students Against the Occupation
59.  Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), Montreal
60.  MRAP-Québec (Mouvement contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme et pour
la paix - ci-devant LICRA-Québec)
61.  Multi-Lingual Translators and Interpreters Group, Cairo, Egypt 62.
Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM), Montreal
63.  Muslim Student Association of the University of Alberta
64.  Muslim Student Association at the University of Waterloo
65.  New England Committee to Defend Palestine
66.  No One Is Illegal, Vancouver
67.  No One Is Illegal, Montreal
68.  No One Is Illegal, Toronto
69.  New Socialist Group, Toronto
70.  Niagara Palestinian Association
71.  The Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation, Toronto
72.  NOWAR-PAIX, Ottawa
73.  The NDP Westmount-Ville Marie Riding Association
74.  L'Opération SalAMI, Montreal
75.  Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)
76.  Ontario Public Interest Research Group at Carleton
77.  Palestine Solidairty Group, Vancouver
78.  Palestinian & Jewish Unity (PAJU), Montreal
79.  Palestinian Women Union, Cairo, Egypt
80.  Palestinian Students Committee, University of Wollongong, Dubai/UAE
81.  Palestinian Cultural Club, American University in Dubai, Dubai/UAE
82.  Parole Arabe, Montreal
83.  Parti Marxist-Leninst Quebec
84.  Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia
85.  Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill
86.  Reach organization, Dubai/UAE
87.  Rebel Desis, Montreal
88.  School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Palestine Society,
London, UK
89.  Students for Palestinian Rights at the University of Waterloo 90.
South Asian Women's Community Center, Montreal
91.  STATUS Coalition, Toronto
92.  Students for Justice (San Jose State University, San Jose, CA) 93.
Solidarity with Iraqi & Palestinian Children at Carleton, Ottawa 94.
Solidarité Union Coopération (SUCO), Montreal
95.  Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Montreal, Ottawa,
Toronto
96.  'The Spot' - K-W Youth Resource Centre
97.  Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, Toronto
98.  Toronto Jewish Youth Against the Occupation, Toronto
99.  United Muslim Students Association, Montreal
100.  United Holy Land Fund, Toronto
101.  Union des forces progressistes (UFP), Quebec
102.  Voices of Conscience (OCVC), Montreal
103.  Women Against the Occupation, Canada