[van-announce] Tories using NOII to distract from anti-immigrant record, Bill C-31 Refugee Exclusion Act]

Harsha W. harsha at resist.ca
Tue Mar 27 10:31:34 PDT 2012 


Conservatives using No One Is Illegal to distract from anti-immigrant
record, Refugee Exclusion Act Bill C-31

Share the link:
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/no-one-illegal/2012/03/conservatives-using-no-one-illegal-distract-anti-immigrant-rec


National Release
March 27, 2012

www.nooneisillegal.org
www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork
www.twitter.com/NoOneIsIllegal


Canada, Turtle Island — Immigrant and refugee rights groups from Montreal,
Toronto and Vancouver were brought up in Parliament yesterday [1] and
targeted in a press release by Minister of Deportation Jason Kenney [2].
The Tories have charged that No One Is Illegal is “not simply another
noisy activist group but hard-line anti-Canadian extremists”.

However as Sozan Savehilaghi from No One Is Illegal – Vancouver Coast
Salish Territories notes, “It seems as if everyone who is a dissident and
stands up for equality and social and environmental justice is an
extremist in Harper’s corporate Canada”, referring to Tory government
recently targeting Indigenous communities and environmentalists against
Enbridge pipeline also as “extremist”.

No One Is Illegal groups are concerned about changes in immigration and
refugee policy. Under the Harper government, citizenship rejection has
doubled [3], 83,382 people have been deported and 72,000 arbitrarily
detained [4], temporary workers have overtaken permanent residents [5],
refugee acceptances has decreased by 25% [6], and there is a moratorium on
sponsoring parents and grandparents [7].

“Now the Tories are quietly pushing through Refugee Exclusion Act Bill
C31, which creates a discriminatory two-tier system of refugee protection
based on nationality, mandates incarceration for many asylum seekers, and
revokes permanent residency from many people already granted refugee
status,” added Syed Hussan from No One Is Illegal – Toronto. “This
proposed extremist and exclusionary law will have significant impacts by
pushing the minimalist Canadian refugee policy back decades, and the
Tories are going to call anyone that opposes it as extremists.”

Dubbed the Refugee Exclusion Act, Bill C31 is opposed by hundreds of
organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, and the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association. In the House of Commons yesterday Tory MP’s brought up No One
Is Illegal to distract from the rigorous opposition to the bill by NDP and
Liberal MPs. On April 4, Refugee Rights Day, actions will be taking place
to Axe the Refugee Exclusion Act and can be followed on twitter #noBillC31
#refugeeexclusion #cdnimm

“Attacks on No One Is Illegal are attacks on migrant rights and they must
be taken seriously. We will not be deterred by these cheap shots. The Tory
government is clearly on the defensive as people all over these lands are
rising up to defend the people and the planet over profits,” said Robyn
Maynard of No One Is Illegal Montreal.

According to Harsha Walia of No One Is Illegal – Vancouver Coast Salish
Territories, “By advancing a movement for migrant justice, No One Is
Illegal groups are proud to be part of this vibrant opposition. We are
committed to raising awareness about the violence of detention and
deportations, labour exploitation and austerity in an era of unprecedented
corporate profiteering, and about the reality of colonization locally and
the scope of empire globally.”

- 30 -


[1] Discussion in Parliament:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5474617#OOB-7154367
[2] Statement by Minister Kenney:
http://www.jasonkenney.ca/news/ndp-backs-radical-and-lawless-%E2%80%9Cno-one-is-illegal%E2%80%9D/
[3] Citizenship rejections:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1147060–canadian-citizenship-rejections-have-more-than-doubled-since-2006?bn=1
[4] Deportation statistics:
http://rabble.ca/columnists/2012/02/taking-liberties-canadas-booming-business-detention-and-deportation?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rabble-news+%28rabble.ca+-+News+for+the+rest+of+us%29
[5] Temporary workers overtake PR:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/skilled-immigrants-being-squeezed-out-as-temporary-workers-flock-to-canada/article1226678/
[6] Refugee acceptance cut by 25%:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/940997–the-conservative-record-immigrants-see-a-harsher-canada
[7] Moratorium on Grandparents:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1081314–canada-a-nice-place-to-visit-but-you-can-t-apply-to-live-here



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right to remain, the freedom to move, and the right to return. As a
movement for self-determination that challenges the ideology of
immigration controls, we take action to combat racial profiling, detention
and deportation, the national security apparatus, law enforcement
brutality, and exploitative working conditions of migrants. The ongoing
apartheid reality instituted through reserves and sweatshops is one that
must be fundamentally uprooted and transformed. We envision a humanity
where everyone has the right to sustenance and the ability to provide it,
where we are free of oppression, misery, and exploitation, and are able to
live meaningfully in relationship to one another and in reverence for
Mother Earth that sustains us.






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No One is Illegal-Vancouver Coast Salish Territories is a grassroots
anti-colonial migrant justice group with leadership from members of
migrant and/or racialized backgrounds. We strive and struggle for the
right to remain, the freedom to move, and the right to return. As a
movement for self-determination that challenges the ideology of
immigration controls, we take action to combat racial profiling, detention
and deportation, the national security apparatus, law enforcement
brutality, and exploitative working conditions of migrants. The ongoing
apartheid reality instituted through reserves and sweatshops is one that
must be fundamentally uprooted and transformed. We envision a humanity
where everyone has the right to sustenance and the ability to provide it,
where we are free of oppression, misery, and exploitation, and are able to
live meaningfully in relationship to one another and in reverence for
Mother Earth that sustains us.



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-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group



-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group

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