Posted by admin on Aug 19th, 2010
CANADIAN TAMIL CONGRESS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT RECENT CANADIAN GOVERNMENT RHETORIC
The Canadian Tamil Congress is deeply concerned about the Canadian government’s recent and ongoing rhetoric on the migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea which is inciting distrust and anger towards them. It is inappropriate for the government to speculate or draw conclusions on the innocence or guilt of the MV Sun Sea’s passengers before much needed inquiries have been completed. The Canadian Tamil Congress believes that the discussion about human trafficking and Canada’s immigration policies is necessary. However, it should be conducted in a manner that does not compromise the RCMP and CSIS to carry out a separate and independent investigation.
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Posted by admin on Aug 18th, 2010
By Rachel Avery and Dan Kellar – August 18, 2010
Once again, the approach of a ship carrying refugees has been met by racist hostility and unfounded accusations of terrorism. The arrival of the MV Sun Sea to the shores of Vancouver Island has seen an outpouring of explicitly racist, anti-immigrant discourse throughout Canada. In a country which would like to consider itself a champion of humanitarianism, it should be shocking that the government’s racist treatment of these refugees has been largely met with support and further racism rather than with disgust and protest. The actions of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and the Canada Border Services Agency in response to this situation are abhorrent; these policies must be challenged along with the racism that supports them.
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Posted by admin on Aug 14th, 2010
By Harsha Walia, Special to the Vancouver Sun August 14, 2010
From the Komagata Maru carrying 376 Punjabi passengers and the SS St. Louis travelling with 900 Jewish asylum seekers, to the boats with 600 people from China’s Fujian province and the Ocean Lady that docked in B.C. last year with Tamil refugees – there is something about boatloads of migrants that triggers a national hysteria. Perhaps it is the realization that the expanse of ocean is not enough to enforce the divide between the West and the so-called Third World.
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Posted by admin on Aug 10th, 2010
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba —Globe and Mail, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010 10:12AM EDT
A Guantanamo Bay military judge has dealt a blow to Canadian Omar Khadr’s legal case: All the confessions the prosecution wanted to submit at his war-crimes trial are fair game. The decision, coming late Monday afternoon, supports the prosecution’s argument that threats of gang rape and alleged abuse in one interrogation do not taint confessions in another. It dramatically strengthens the most serious charge against Mr. Khadr – that of murdering a U.S. Army sergeant in an Afghan firefight at the age of 15. If convicted, the 23-year-old could face life imprisonment.
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Posted by admin on Aug 6th, 2010
New America Media, News Report, Khalil Abdullah, Posted: Aug 06, 2010
WASHINGTON – While public attention has focused on state policies toward immigrants — namely, Arizona’s controversial immigration law – federal authorities have for years criminalized border crossers. The federal policy called Operation Streamline, initiated in 2005 by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, moves the prosecution of undocumented immigrants from civil to criminal courts and ultimately to deportation. The program’s success in curbing illegal immigration is still debatable, but if there has been one beneficiary, it’s the for-profit prison industry, according to a report recently released by Grassroots Leadership.
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