August 30,2005

Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees:  International Delegations Demand an End to the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees from Canada

On August 15th, members and supporters of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees visited Canadian Immigration offices, Consulates and Embassies in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, New York, London, Beirut, Amman and the United Arab Emirates, to demand an immediate end of deportations for all Palestinians in Canada and for them to be granted permanent resident status.
Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, continues to to meet with Coalition members and ignored the support they have from civil society and individuals across Canada and the world.  After over two years of organizing and fighting against their deportations, Palestinian refugees and their supporters took the initiative on August 15th to remind Volpe of their demands, and their will to continue fighting.

OTTAWA:  Supporters visited the office of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and demanded a meeting to highlight the Coalition's demands and to specifically discuss the struggle of two Palestinian refugees recently released from the Ottawa detention center, but still facing deportation.  After being denied entry, and insisting to meet for almost one hour, the delegation met with CIC staff and delivered the group's demands. The police arrived, and the delegation learned that they had been summoned

TORONTO:  The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees paid the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada a visit in his home riding of North York, in an attempt to force him to face those he intends to deport in the coming days and months.  The Minister was conspicuously absent from his riding office the morning of  August 15th, after having refused to acknowledge repeated requests from the Coalition to sit down and discuss the situation. The Coalition, refusing to be ignored, remained in the office to highlight the injustices of the immigration system, and their effects on the lives of the Palestinian refugees. Their demands were delivered to members of the Minister's staff.

MONTREAL:  The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees and their allies held a press point in front of the local Citizenship and Immigration Canada office, where the files of many of the Palestinian refugees fighting against deportation are being held and where the decisions affecting their lives and livelihoods will be made. Although they were promptly locked out of the building and denied their request to enter to meet with the Director of Inland Processing-the person ultimately responsible for the final decision on their right to remain in Canada. Supporters refused to leave until they were granted a meeting with someone responsible for the processing of their files. Ultimately, after CIC employees summoned the Montreal municipal police to the scene, the delegation met with Phillipe Albert, Director of Finance and Administration, who has promised to place the demands and supporting documentation provided by the Coalition directly in the hands of the Regional Director of CIC in Montreal. Members of the delegation also spoke to the interim director of Inland Processing and relayed the Coalition's demands to her.

NEW YORK:  Coalition members and supporters visited the Canadian Consulate in NYC and met with Pamela Wallin, Consul General. Members discussed the conditions of Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria - including those who had won refugee status for themselves in the U.S. Although Wallin expressed that 'with so many refugee applicants she was in no position to express favour to Palestinians specifically,' her special envoy spoke with the delegation for nearly an hour.  Wallin and the envoy listened to testimonies of two refugees - one who had been refused in Canada in 1998 but was granted status in the US.  The Coalition's demands were delivered to the Consul.

LONDON: A delegation of supporters met with two officials from the Canadian High Commission to the United Kingdom: Gordon Morrison, the political counselor at the Canadian High Commission of Canada in the UK, and Mr. Christopher Berzins, political officer at the Canadian High Commission.  The delegation explained the international scope of the delegations and the officials were told that this coordinated effort is reflective of the wide support of civil society organizations in Canada and abroad. A letter addressed to Mr. Mel Cappe, the High Commissioner, along with supporting documentation, was presented to Mr. Morrison and Mr. Berzins. During the meeting, which lasted over 45 minutes, members of the delegation informed the officials of the plight of the Palestinian refugees in the camps of Lebanon and Occupied Palestine. The delegation briefed the officials on the Palestinian refugees who struggled in order to reach Canada to claim asylum.  The cases of Palestinian refugees already deported and detained in the United States were highlighted.
The delegation also informed the officials that the Coalition is part of a larger campaign that demands the implementation of a full regularization program for all non-status people in Canada
The delegation urged the officials to take a position in support of the demands of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees and to communicate that position to Ottawa. Mr Morrison and Mr. Berzinsinformed the delegation that they had an obligation to do so.

BEIRUT:  An organizer from the Coalition met with Claudie Senay, the Political Consular at the Canadian Consulate in Lebanon.  He explained the work of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees in Montreal and the ongoing crisis of deportations.
Claudie Senay agreed to the send a fax to officials at Immigration Canada and Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, while she also circulated the letterfrom the Coalition to the Consul among all staff members at the Consulate. Senay was pressed to provide political support for the Coalition, particularly by highlighting the situation for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

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The Coalition members and supports who joined these delegations got markedly different reactions, depending on whether they were visiting foreign diplomatic and consular offices or visiting CIC offices in Canada. The foreign offices, whose role includes catering to the interests and needs of Canadians abroad, were receptive and open to discussion, while those officials in Canada directly responsible for the current situation of the Palestinian refugees refused to so much as meet with the delegations. This response was but one example of the callousness of the immigration bureaucracy that remains willing to destroy the lives of those whose dignity it refuses to acknowledge.

The Coalition continues to demand an immediate end to the deportation of Palestinian refugees and for the regularization of their status in Canada.
For more information on the struggle of Palestnian Refugees in Canada visit:
http://refugees.resist.ca

We welcome your support.

(514) 859-9070 refugees@riseup.net

Financial contributions are desperately needed for the Coalition to continue its struggle. Please send a check addressed to <<Medical Aid for Palestine>>, with the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees in the memo, to:

Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees C/O QPIRG McGill
 3647 University, 3rd Floor Montreal, H3A 2B3

Tax receipts will be issued upon request.