December 7, 2004

Approximately 40-50 family members and supporters from the Iranian Federation of Refugees and No One is Illegal gathered at Immigration Canada early this morning in a last minute attempt to demand a stay of deportation of Haleh Sahba from enforcement officials directly.

Haleh Sahba is a refugee claimant in Vancouver whose case, like many other refugee claimants in Canada, has been denied despite strong evidence that as a political activist for womens rights and a student activist, upon her return to Iran she will face detention, persecution from an abusive ex-husband, and possible imprisonment.

Security downstairs initially refused the delegation, particularly Haleh and NOII members, to proceed upstairs until Haleh’s family and the media persistently challenged the reason that a public office was being made inaccessible. Security, embarrased and cornered, conceded and apologized.

While upstairs, a meeting was continously refused, stating that without an appointment, Haleh would not be able to meet anyone, even for five minutes, and was in fact reprimanded for not proceeding to the airport.

In an interview with CTV later in the day, an immigration spokespersonstated that all files are judged carefully, particularly the Pre-removal risk assessemnt (PRRA) where conditions in countries are carefully assessed. Latest statistics, however, reveal that the PRRA has a refusal rate of over 95% due to the inherently forward-looking assessment of what could be irreputable harm.

According to CIC’s own statistics, over 50,000 people have been removed from Canada in the past five years. These attacks against immigrant and refugee communities are escalating with repressive and racist immigration policies. No One is Illegal, along with other immigrant and refugee groups, will continue to build a movement for justice for our communities.

Stop the deportations now!