Posted by admin on Mar 8th, 2004
NATIONAL DEMONSTRATIONS ON TUESDAY, MARCH 9 IN SOLIDARITY WITH MOHAMED CHERFI
Immigration Canada, 300 West Georgia
To date, there are at least five cities confirmed for actions in solidarity with Mohamed Cherfi. Mohamed is currently detained in the United States, and facing imminent deportation to Algeria, where he will be imprisoned or worse. This past Friday, Mohamed was arrested by at least 15 police officers inside the Saint-Pierre United Church in Quebec City, where he had been given sanctuary by the Reverend Gerald Dore.
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Posted by admin on Mar 7th, 2004
NATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH MOHAMMED CHERFI
RALLY AND PRESS CONFERENCE TUESDAY MARCH 9, 2004 @ 12:30- 2PM
300 WEST GEORGIA (CIC OFFICES)
This is the first time in Canadian history that church sanctuary has been violated. We will not remain indifferent. Mohamed Cherfi had been in sanctuary at Saint-Pierre United Church since February 10 in order to avoid deportation to Algeria where he fears for his life. This arrest breaks a longstanding secular tradition of right to sanctuary, the first time such an outrage has occurred in Canada.
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Posted by admin on Mar 6th, 2004
Gazette, 6 March 2004
Allison Hanes
Mohamed Cherfi followed in the footsteps of many desperate deportees before him by taking refuge in a Quebec City church last month.But he became the first in the country’s history to be dragged from his sanctuary in handcuffs yesterday. Cherfi, who came to Canada through the United States in 1998, has fought against the deportation of hundreds of his compatriots since a moratorium on repatriation to Algeria was lifted in 2002. After much public pressure, the federal and Quebec governments came to an agreement that has allowed 499 of 513 Algerian claimants to stay since 2002 – or 93 per cent.But Cherfi’s arrest at many of the demonstrations that helped bring about the special arrangement may have hurt his own chanced of being accepted.
Recently, sanctuary on hallowed ground – a tradition that dates to the 4th century – has seen a resurgence, especially in Montreal.
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Posted by admin on Mar 6th, 2004
Gazette, 6 March 2004
Allison Hanes
Quebec City police violated a centuries-old tradition of safe harbour yesterday when they barged into a church and dragged out Mohamed Cherfi, an Algerian activist who had taken refuge there last month to avoid deportation to his war-torn homeland. There is no law protecting people seeking sanctuary in a church, but this is believed to be the first time in Canadian history authorities have pounced on a person seeking asylum on sacred ground.
Within the hour, Cherfi had been handed over to Canadian Border Security Agency authorities. And by the end of day, he had been turned over to U.S. authorities
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Posted by admin on Mar 6th, 2004
Mohamed Cherfi, an Algerian asylum seeker, had been in sanctuary at Saint-Pierre United Church in Quebec City since February 10, 2004 in order to avoid deportation to Algeria where he fears for his life. Mohamed sought political refuge in Canada as a conscientious objector, having refused to do compulsory military service that would have forced him into the civil conflict in Algeria.
On Friday March 5, dozens of police officers forcibly entered the church. They stormed in and immediately descended on Cherfi, and within hours, Mohamed was deported to the United States and is now in a prison cell in upstate New York. His arrest breaks a longstanding secular tradition of right to sanctuary, the first time such an outrage has occurred in Canada.
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