Friday, 18 January 2008: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION in support of Abdelkader Belaouni
In London, demonstrate at the Canadian High Commission, west side of Trafalgar Square, at 1pm.
On 1 January 2006 Algerian Abelkader Belaouni (Kader) took refuge in St. Gabriel's Church in Montreal to avoid deportation from Canada. Despite an outpouring of support, he has remained a prisoner in the church ever since, unable to leave for fear of being arrested and deported. That's two years too many!
In London, demonstrate at the Canadian High Commission, west side of Trafalgar Square, at 1pm.
On 1 January 2006 Algerian Abelkader Belaouni (Kader) took refuge in St. Gabriel's Church in Montreal to avoid deportation from Canada. Despite an outpouring of support, he has remained a prisoner in the church ever since, unable to leave for fear of being arrested and deported. That's two years too many!
Kader
In November 2005, Kader was told that his application to stay in Canada was rejected and that he would be deported.
Kader's refugee claim had earlier been rejected by a Immigration and Refugee Board Commissioner, Laurier Thibault, who refused 99% of the cases before him in a two-year period. Later decisions by Immigration Canada failed to take into account of the fact that Kader is blind, and, as such, experiences significant discrimination and barriers, in particular when it comes to finding stable employment.
Kader's life had already been uprooted twice. The first time by the brutal civil war in Algeria, which saw hundreds of thousands of civilians die; the second time by the post-September 11th Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) "special registration" programme in the United States, which applied to all men born in Muslim-majority countries living in the United States.
Facing deportation from Canada, Kader took the courageous decision to stand up for his dignity as a human being, and insist on his right to stay.
His struggle mirrors that of many other refugees and migrants in Canada and around the world, who are uprooted, denied the right to seek a life of security and dignity, economically marginalised, forced to live in precarity, imprisoned and threatened with deportation.
Kader's decision to stay in Canada has met with an outpouring of support from his friends, as well as individuals and organisations across Quebec, Canada and even internationally. Over 70 organisations and networks, representing more than 250 groups in Quebec alone, support status for Kader, including community organisations from his neighbourhood, student organisations, disability rights groups, migrant justice groups, faith-based organisations, and human rights organisations such as Amnesty International.
Kader's refugee claim had earlier been rejected by a Immigration and Refugee Board Commissioner, Laurier Thibault, who refused 99% of the cases before him in a two-year period. Later decisions by Immigration Canada failed to take into account of the fact that Kader is blind, and, as such, experiences significant discrimination and barriers, in particular when it comes to finding stable employment.
Kader's life had already been uprooted twice. The first time by the brutal civil war in Algeria, which saw hundreds of thousands of civilians die; the second time by the post-September 11th Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) "special registration" programme in the United States, which applied to all men born in Muslim-majority countries living in the United States.
Facing deportation from Canada, Kader took the courageous decision to stand up for his dignity as a human being, and insist on his right to stay.
His struggle mirrors that of many other refugees and migrants in Canada and around the world, who are uprooted, denied the right to seek a life of security and dignity, economically marginalised, forced to live in precarity, imprisoned and threatened with deportation.
Kader's decision to stay in Canada has met with an outpouring of support from his friends, as well as individuals and organisations across Quebec, Canada and even internationally. Over 70 organisations and networks, representing more than 250 groups in Quebec alone, support status for Kader, including community organisations from his neighbourhood, student organisations, disability rights groups, migrant justice groups, faith-based organisations, and human rights organisations such as Amnesty International.
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