[van-announce] URGENT: STOP A DEPORTATION

[ha rsha]

* UPDATE ON THE IBAD FAMILY: The Ibad family was removed from Canada today, 
Tuesday Oct 21, at 11 am. The previous night, immigration officials appeared 
at their home for over one hour and interrogated them about their public 
campaign. They were not detained in the US, thanks to all the work of the 
Vermont Refugee Assistance Centre, and are currently on the road, while 
their fight for status will continue in Canada. The demand of their campaign 
(their Humanitarian and Compassionate claim be processed in a fair and just 
manner and they be allowed back to Canada with full status)and public 
pressure will continue until the fight is won.

Solidarity and struggle,
Action Committee, No One is Illegal,REBELdesis. nooneisillegal at tao.ca 
/514-409-2049.


STOP THE DEPORTATIONS !!!
JUSTICE FOR ALI NAQVI!!!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
MASSIVE CALL CAMPAIGN
FLOOD THE OFFICE WITH CALLS
*** René D'Aoust director of Investigations and Removals: (514) 496-1238 ***

Points to emphasize in your call:
- The demands of the campaign (below)
- The recent violence and curfew in Islamabad
- Ali’s education being interrupted for the past two years
- Great danger Ali faces of being detained in the US.
- His incarceration in Laval Detention Centre (no reason given) upon arrival 
due to IRB’s profiling forced him to loose four months of his life and he 
still suffering from the indignity and blatant violation of his rights.


EMAIL/FAX :
* Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Denis Coderre:
Phone: (613) 957-0312
Fax: (613) 957-2688
Email: Minister at cic.gc.ca

* Montreal Constituency Office
Phone: (514) 323-1212
Fax: (514) 323-2875
Email: Coderd1 at parl.gc.ca




October 21, 2003

Honourable Minister Coderre:

I would like to draw your particular attention to the case of Ali Naqvi who 
is scheduled for deportation on October 28, 2003.

He received his deportation orders to go back to the US on October 28, 2003. 
Ali fears that if he is deported back to the US he will again be put in 
detention and be targeted by the racist post 9/11 legislation that focuses 
on young, single, Muslim men like himself. He will eventually be sent back 
to Pakistan.

Upon arriving in Canada on 2 February 2002 he surrendered his passport and 
his valid student visa to the Canadian authorities and was detained for 
almost four months in the Laval Detention Centre. No reason was ever given 
by the Immigration officials for his detention – neither upon his initial 
arrival at the border nor upon his release from the detention centre. Since 
his release, Ali has been teaching History and English at the local Islamic 
centre and is an active member of his community.

One of the allegations of the IRB is that they are not convinced that Ali 
faces imminent and grave danger in Pakistan. Ali is seeking refugee status 
in Canada to escape the brutal ongoing targeting that he and members of his 
Shi’a family are facing by the extremist group Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). 
His father has received a number of death threats and members of his family 
have been forced to go into hiding fearing attacks by the SSP. The targeting 
by the SSP and direct attacks made on their family home has even forced them 
to move away from their hometown where they have been rooted for 30 years.

The situation in Pakistan is especially heightened now as the head of the 
SSP was recently killed and there have been riots and curfews imposed in the 
capital city of Islamabad. The recent wave of sectarian violence in 
Islamabad has claimed dozens of lives and a curfew has been placed on the 
city, a situation that is a near-civil war one at present. Sectarian 
violence in Pakistan has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, as 
documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In light of the 
recent violence and the increasingly intensified attacks against minorities, 
it is deplorable and unacceptable that any Pakistani refugee would be 
returned, particularly to Islamabad.

Sincerely,

************************************************************************

BACKGROUND

Ali Naqvi is a 23-year old Pakistani who arrived in the US in August of 2001 
on a student visa as a means of escaping the persecution and threats he was 
facing in his homeland. The increased racist targeting of Arab, Muslim and 
South Asian men in the post 9/11 months in the US prompted Ali to come to 
Canada to claim refugee status. Upon arriving in Canada on 2 February 2002 
he surrendered his passport and his valid student visa to the Canadian 
authorities and was detained for almost four months in the Laval Detention 
Centre. No reason was ever given by the Immigration officials for his 
detention – neither upon his initial arrival at the border nor upon his 
release from the detention centre.

Since his release, Ali has been teaching History and English at the local 
Islamic centre and is an active member of his community. He is also one of 
the most committed and impassioned members of the Action Committee of 
Pakistani Refugees, spending over ten hours a day at the Refugee Protection 
Centre to mobilize and organize with other claimants.

Ali has had a number of meetings with the IRB. His refugee claim was heard 
twice and rejected both times. During these two hearings immigration 
officials tried desperately to discredit Ali's reasons for seeking refuge 
and worked to make him nervous by asking the same questions time and again. 
For example, they repeatedly asked him the exact date of his family’s move 
from one city to another in Pakistan. Ali was unable to give an exact date 
because the move was done in steps and did not happen on any one particular 
date. He received his deportation orders to go back to the US on October 28, 
2003. Ali fears that if he is deported back to the US he will again be put 
in detention and be targeted by the racist post 9/11 legislation that 
focuses on young, single, Muslim men like himself. He will eventually be 
sent back to Pakistan.

One of the allegations of the IRB is that they are not convinced that Ali 
faces imminent and grave danger in Pakistan. Ali is seeking refugee status 
in Canada to escape the brutal ongoing targeting that he and members of his 
Shi’a family are facing by the extremist group Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). 
His father has received a number of death threats and members of his family 
have been forced to go into hiding fearing attacks by the SSP. The targeting 
by the SSP and direct attacks made on their family home has even forced them 
to move away from their hometown where they have been rooted for 30 years.

The situation in Pakistan is especially heightened now as the head of the 
SSP was recently killed and there have been riots and curfews imposed in the 
capital city of Islamabad. The recent wave of sectarian violence in 
Islamabad has claimed dozens of lives and a curfew has been placed on the 
city, a situation that is a near-civil war one at present. Sectarian 
violence in Pakistan has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, as 
documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and even in the 
IRB’s own departmental reports, and as such the decisions of the IRB judges 
decisions are indicative of systemic racial profiling. His family is begging 
for him to remain in Canada where they feel he is safe. They fear that their 
family’s prominence and namesake will immediately cause authorities at the 
airport in Pakistan to target him. In light of the recent violence and the 
increasingly intensified attacks against minorities, it is deplorable and 
unacceptable that any Pakistani refugee would be returned, particularly to 
Islamabad.

Demands of the campaign are that:
1) No removal take place to either Pakistan or the US in light of the recent 
violence in Islamabad.
2) Further we demand that Ali be given full status in Canada on humanitarian 
grounds.


*******************************************************************


SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL PAKISTANI REFUGEES:

* Endorse the demands --->

In Montreal, there are over 200 Pakistani refugee claimants facing 
deportation in the coming months as their cases are being rejected in 
unprecedented numbers by the Immigration and Refugee Board. These refusals 
are based on the grounds that the situation in Pakistan from these refugees 
has improved, whereas, the facts are contrary to it. These refugees are 
fleeing a violent political and sectarian crisis in Pakistan, which has been 
well documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. A close 
review of the rejected cases indicates that some IRB judges are not aware of 
their own departments published reports, which clearly agrees with the 
aforementioned human rights reports, and as such the decisions of the IRB 
judges decisions are indicative of systemic racial profiling.

The Action Committee is asking for the public support of organizations and 
groups who support the demands of the campaign. If your organization 
endorses the demands below, please phone 514-409-2049 or e-mail 
nooneisillegal at tao.ca.

1) The Action Committee demands that the deportation of rejected Pakistani 
claimants to either Pakistan or the United States be stopped immediately;
2) All Pakistani refugee claimants be granted full and regularized status in 
Canada

* Current endorsing groups include: Pakistan Association of Quebec, Islamic 
Center Montreal, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, No One is Illegal 
Montreal, Rebel Desis, Union United Church- Little Burgundy, Action 
Committee for Non Status Algerians, No One is Illegal- Toronto, STATUS 
Coalition Toronto, Fire this Time Movement for Social Justice Vancouver, No 
One is Illegal Vancouver, South Asian Womens Community Center Montreal, 
QPIRG Mcgill, Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees, 
QPIRG Concordia, Dragonroot Center for Gender Advocacy, Solidarity for 
Palestinian Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement, Jewish 
Alliance Against the Occupation, Coalition Against War and Racism Toronto, 
Block the Empire Montreal, Direct Action Against Refugee Exploitation (DARE- 
Vancouver), Canadian Federation of Students Quebec, Al-Awda Vancouver, 
Palestine Solidarity Group-Vancouver.

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