Adrian Dragan, a Roma refugee that has been held for 16 months awaiting removal to Romania, has been put into solitary confinement at Fraser Pre-trial in Coquitlam, BC after refusing to sign documents that he is willing to return to Romania.

He is a Roma (also known as “Gypsy”) and faces serious danger and repression if removed to Romania, where Roma people are regularly attacked and persecuted. In fact, Adrian renounced his citizenship in Romania in 1993 to condemn the racism against Roma there, and since he does not have formal citizenship, he is now being held in jailed limbo, without rights as a citizen in either Canada or Romania.

Canada has already tried once to send Adrian to Romania, but he was refused at the Romanian border. Dragan said he didn’t want to enter. Since he is no longer a citizen of Romania, it would have been against international law to force him to enter, so he was sent back to Canada and now in continued detention by Immigration Canada.

As a stateless citizen, Dragan has no homeland and no country of residence. As a signatory of the United Nations’ 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Canada has an international duty to accept and protect stateless people.

Call, write or fax (see sample letter below) and demand that
– Adrian’s documents be returned to him
– Adrian be released from solitary confinement and not be repressed for asserting his rights as an aslyum seeker by refusing to sign documents that state he is willing to be deported to Romania
– Canada live up to its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1978) and not deport him to Romania unless the government can guarantee Adrian’s complete citizenship rights, safety and freedom in Romania.

For more information contact
No One is Illegal Vancouver: noii-van@resist.ca or call (604) 682-3269 x 7149
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty: ocap@tao.ca or call (416) 925-6939

Sample Letter:

Ardith Watson, Director of Programs
North Fraser Pre-trial Center
1451 Kingsway, Port Coquitlam
BC, V3C 1S2
Fax: 604-468-3556
Telephone: 604-468-3500 x 0

Peter Lundy
Deputy Director, Central Europe Dept
Foreign Affairs Canada
613-996-7800

Romanian Consulate
111 Peter St.
Toronto, ON M5V 2H1
Phone: 416/585-5802
Fax: 416/585 4798

Judy Sgro, P.C., M.P.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
Fax: 613 947 8319, Tel: 613 992 7774
E-mail: Minister@cic.gc.ca

Anne McLellan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
c/o Solicitor General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6
Fax: 613 990-9077, Tel: 613 991 2924
E-mail: McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca

Adrian Dragan, a Roma refugee that has been held for 16 months awaiting removal to Romania, has been put into solitary confinement at Fraser Pre-trial in Coquitlam, BC after refusing to sign documents that he is willing to return to Romania. He is currently on hunger strike in protest of his continuing treatment by the Canadian government.

He is a Roma (also known as “Gypsy”) and faces serious danger and repression if removed to Romania, where Roma people are regularly attacked and persecuted. In fact, Adrian renounced his citizenship in Romania in 1993 to condemn the racism against Roma there, and since he does not have formal citizenship, he is now being held in jailed limbo, without rights as a citizen in either Canada or Romania.

Canada has already tried once to send Adrian to Romania, but he was refused at the border and sent back to Canada, to continued detention by Immigration Canada.

On behalf of Adrian, I demand that all of Adrian’s documents that were confiscated be returned to him, that Adrian not be compelled in any way to sign documents that state that he is willing to be returned to Romania, and that Adrian be release from solitary confinement immediately.

I find it deplorable that Canada would treat asylum seekers in such a manner: placing them under duress in order to compel them to “agree” to be deported. Canada must live up to its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and not deport him to Romania unless the government can guarantee Adrian’s complete citizenship rights, safety and freedom in Romania.

Sincerely,