[van-announce] EMERGENCY ACTION! STOP THE DEPORTATION OF IRANIAN REFUGEES, KOBRA AND HASSAN!

[aliy]

Update #2 on the Deportation of Kobra and Hassan: 
*** URGENT*** FOREWARD WIDELY***

(Sorry for any cross postings)

STOP THE DEPORTATION OF IRANIAN REFUGEES, KOBRA AND HASSAN!

EMERGENCY ACTION - 

TUESDAY JANUARY 21ST, 1PM

RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Meet in front of the international departures terminal, near the Starbucks

(Supporters will be gathering at the corner of Broadway and Granville at 11am to take the bus out to the airport together OR meeting at the APC office at 42 Blood Alley Sq, between Cordova and Water St in Gastown at 11:30am; depending on whichever is more convenient)

On Friday, January 17th, Kobra Natghi and her 21 year old son, Hassan Esmat were called into an Immigration Canada office in Vancouver BC for a routine interview. The letter they recieved demanding this meeting said, "You are reminded that failure to report may result in the issuance of a warrant for your arrest and detention." At this "interview" they were arrested: legs chained and handcuffed and taken to jail. Kobra and Hassan came to Canada four years ago as political refugees from Iran where their rights were severely restricted and their lives were in grave danger. This danger has not lessened; if they are allowed to be forced back to Iran by immigration Canada they will almost certainly be imprisoned, tortured and killed. 


Kobra and Hassan are scheduled to be deported on Tuesday January 21st at 4pm. Kobra is being held at the detention center at Richmond International Airport and Hassan has just been transferred from Vancouver Pretrial on Main St to Fraserview Corrections. Neither one of them is being allowed to see their lawyer. Hassan will not be allowed to see visitors until 24 hours after his prison transfer is complete, by that time he will have already been deported to Iran. Kobra has not eaten in the three days since she was arrested and she has a severe anxiety disorder, Hassan has epilepsy; their health is in jeopardy even in their present situation. We must come together NOW to stop this deportation, there is no time to waste. Immigration Canada met with the Campaign to stop deportations only to say to the people who occupied their office earlier today, "We are deporting Kobra and Hassan, there is nothing you can do." The only crime of Kobra and Hassan is that they are from Iran. We can stop the deportation by exposing Immigration Canada; deportations are racist and they rely on the indifference of the public to carry them out in secret. 

WE CAN STOP THIS DEPORTATION!


On Monday, January 20th, at the demonstration in front of Immigration Canada Deportation Centre, The Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice (FTT) interviewed two people involved in the resistance to the deportations of Kobra and Hassan.

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Interview with Khaled Bakarat; from the "No-one is Illegal" Campaign


FTT: Why is it important to resist deportations?

Khaled: Because, well, for many reasons, but first, because the people being deported are not criminals. The people being deported are just immigrants trying to live peacefully, trying to escape tyrannies and war created by US imperialism because they are being targeted there, so they come here, AND THEY ARE BEING TARGETED HERE.

Second, Canadian Immigration policies are racist policies that have been stepped up since September 11th. When they focus on "problem" countries for deportations and criminalization though racial profiling they are focusing on the people most affected by US and Canadian imperialism. Bill 11 and Bill C-36 strip the rights away from these targeted people. The government now has the right to hold people without cause, without letting you speak to a lawyer, based only on the "feeling" of the police, immigration officers and the courts. 

Many people who come to Canada from the Middle East and SE Asia are being interrogated at the border through so called "random" checks. It’s ridiculous to say that these checks are in any way random; if you look at the interview office for these checks, its all people of colour, people from the middle east, from SE Asia, from Africa, from Latin America. Do they have special computers with only the names of people from these places and then select randomly from that? Why do you not see people from France or England pulled in on these random checks? I myself was held for 8 hours in one of these checks. They are building a racial profiling database; photographing and fingerprinting all these "randomly checked" immigrants and refugees as potential criminals.


FTT: What is the correlation between the BC Liberal government’s agenda and the targeting of refugees by Immigration Canada?

Khaled: The BC Liberal Government is waging war on poor people. More and more people in this province are falling below the poverty line. Campbell is waging war on poor people: workers, single moms, people dependant on social services and immigrants. Immigrants belong to all of these classes. For immigrants this is a double exploitation, they have to face daily and institutional discrimination as well as worsening conditions in the workplace. Chinese immigrants are working in Vancouver for $3 or $4 an hour… businesses and the government break their own racist laws for their racist profit driven agenda. 

There is a definite relationship between resisting Campbell and fighting policies against immigrants and refugees; it is ONE FIGHT. 


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Interview with Saber, an organizer with the Campaign to Stop the Deportations, Hambastagi


FTT: Why is it important to stop the deportation of Kobra and Hassan?

Saber: Kobra and Hassan left Iran because their lives were in danger there. They had no rights. We believe in human rights. These are human rights issues. If the Canadian Government denies the rights of refugees, the same thing will be applied to people who have citizenship here and others who are trying to live and be free. The Canadian government is helping the Iranian government, working with the Iranian governmnent when they deport people… immigrants and refugees are victims of the relationship that the Canadian Government has with the Iranian Government; it is a strong economic relationship that they must preserve. When Askar Oladi, famous in Iran for being a human butcher, came to visit Canada, the Canadian government rolled out the red carpet for him; they are not concerned for the rights or safety of refugees, only for how much money they have. the society, refugees, then they go after everyone else. 

By the Human Rights Charter, these two refugees are eligible for asylum but the Canadian government says that Iran is safe. Safe for who? It is safe for the same people that are safe in Canada; people like Askar Oladi, safe for factory owners, safe for people with a lot of money. There are right now 700 deportation cases being processed in Vancouver alone. The colour of these people, these "cases" is not important, money is what matters. Most of these people being deported are from Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia but it’s not about black and white and racist, it’s about being poor. The Canadian government, Immigration Canada and all the governments they are helping are attacking poor people.


________________________________________


On Tuesday January 21st Kobra and Hassan are supposed to be deported to Iran by the Canadian Government. Supporters will be meeting at the International Departures Terminal at 1pm to stop the deportation. If the Canadian Government sends them back to Iran, we will not stop fighting for them and the rights of all refugees and immigrants who are living under the threat of deportation.


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:


Campaign to Stop Deportation:

604-727-8986

stopdeportationnow at yahoo.com 

www.stopdeportationnow.com


Fire This Time Movement For Social Justice

604-322-1764

PO Box 21607

Vancouver BC   V5N 5T5

info at fire-this-time.org 

www.fire-this-time.org

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