[van-announce] "A Canadian Refugee Camp" (Feb 6)

[No One is Illegal-Vancouver]

 * please post widely *


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                A CANADIAN REFUGEE CAMP
        The resistance within Fortress North America
                SUNDAY FEBRUARY 6, 2005
            Vancouver Art Gallery from Noon- 5pm
                      Rally at 1 pm
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No One is Illegal will be coordinating a "Canadian Refugee Camp" on Feb 6
2005. The camp will involve the participation from various community
groups and organizations involved in historical and present struggle
against Immigration Canada and racist border and immigration policies,
while making the links to Canadian policies of corporate globalization and
imperialism that result in mass displacement from lands in the Third
World.

The refugee camp is more than symbolic as it shatters the myth of Canadian
mulitcultarism, humanitarianism, and tolerance. Migrants are typically
permitted into Canada as domestic labour, as live in caregivers, as
farmers and berry pickers, as disposable labour to build the railway. The
exclusion of Chinese migrants after Confederation, the internment of
Japanese-Canadians during World War II and the refusal of Jewish refugees
in the “None is too Many” policy after World War II are three well-known
examples of Canada’s immigration history.  The War on Terrorism has
wrought terror onto the lives of South Asian, Muslim and Arab migrants
being interrogated, profiled, detained, targeted through secret trials,
and deported.

Perhaps the most draconian and exclusionary measure on the rights of
migrants in Canadian history is the Safe Third Country Agreement taking
effect by the end of 2004. The Safe Third Country Agreement would mean
asylum seekers who land in the US would no longer be allowed to make their
way to Canada, creating a fortress in North America similar to Fortress
Europe and reducing the number of refugee claims in Canada by an estimated
40%.

Rather than continuously being relegated to ‘model minority’ status,
immigrant and refugee communities will construct this camp as a public
testament to the struggles for justice and self-determination. The
solidarity and collective histories will be become the battleground for
our ongoing resistance.

There is much work to make all this happen and we invite anyone interested
to come meetings on Mondays at 7 pm at the Palestine Community Center
(1874 Kingsway).

Feel free to get in touch
noii-van at resist.ca
778-885-0040
website: noii-van at resist.ca