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

[Stefan Christoff]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 14:33:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: No One Is Illegal <nooneisillegal at dojo.tao.ca>


STATELESS & DEPORTED
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 Thursday July 24th to Friday August 1st 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 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/CJLO 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