Please see link below to an accountability and apology statement from NOII-Van regarding  Refugees Welcome event held in October.
By: Harsha Walia
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Why-Migration-Should-Be-Central-to-Paris-COP21-Climate-Talks-20151125-0011.html
Climate refugees and displaced peoples bear the brunt of environmental violence.
“We live in constant fear of the adverse impacts of climate change. For a coral atoll nation, sea level rise and more severe weather events loom as a growing threat to our entire population. The threat is real and serious, and is of no difference to a slow and insidious form of terrorism against us.†– Prime Minister of Tuvalu Saufatu Sapo’aga at the United Nations
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, world leaders are closing their borders to refugees and cracking down on civil society participation in the upcoming climate negotiations. Over the past 15 years, the War on Terror has allowed for increased state powers while curbing fundamental rights, especially of racialized bodies marked as threats. Meanwhile, violence against the majority of humanity – including the devastation caused by climate change in places like Tuvalu – continues on with international impunity.
Community Alert: Increased CBSA enforcement
Over the past two weeks, we have been contacted by a number of people who have had Canada Border Services Agency come to their workplaces and homes and a number of people who have been detained by Canada Border Services Agency. The number of support calls we receive regularly has also increased with more people reporting deportation orders coming up soon and a possible raid (unconfirmed) at a worksite on Marine Drive.
We don’t want to alarm people but we don’t want to let everyone know. To us this suggests increased CBSA enforcement, something we have witnessed in past years towards the end of the year.
For those in our communities who are at risk of CBSA enforcement, let us know if and how we can support you in staying safe. For anyone who witnesses CBSA vehicles or CBSA inland enforcement teams, please contact us. If you work in a workplace where you know of undocumented workers, please ask how best to support in case of a CBSA raid (safe exits, emergency contacts etc). We are deeply troubled and angered and saddened by these raids and invite others to join in the movement to end CBSA enforcement in our communities.
Sunday, October 11 at 2:00pm
YWCA 733 Beatty Street (near Stadium Skytrain)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1501359490156546/
As part of 10 Days for Refugees Welcome (RefugeesWelcome.ca), No One Is Illegal-Vancouver – unceded Coast Salish Territories invites you to a panel discussion on what it means to be a refugee in Canada.
We assert Refugees Welcome! Freedom to move, stay and return.
September 12, 2015
‪
Toronto, Vancouver
Organizers of #RefugeesWelcome respond to the $100 million emergency matching fund announcement.
“This fund would not have saved Alan, Ghalib and Rehaana’s lives – what we need is to immediately bring refugees and migrants to Canada,” says Tings Chak of No One Is Illegal – Toronto
According to Harsha Walia of No One Is Illegal-Vancouver “This emergency relief fund is a band aid solution. The federal government needs to implement emergency measures, as it has done in the past, to immediately welcome Syrian refugees as well as re-unite family members from Syria. More importantly, the refugee crisis highlights how this government needs to completely overhaul our exclusionary immigration and refugee system so that all refugees and migrants can arrive and remain in safety.”
#RefugeesWelcome is also calling for the $100 million dollar emergency relief fund to be redirected from the $500 million being spent on military intervention in Syria. Walia further adds “We must put an immediate end to Canada’s role in creating an unprecedented crisis of refugees and displaced peoples. We must resolve the refugee crisis because we have a hand in worsening it.”
Refugees Welome actions have taken place in over 30 communities during the past week including in Antigonish, Ajax, Calgary, Charlottetown, Dauphin, Edmonton, Fredericton, Hamilton, Halifax, Inuvik, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, St. Catharines, St John’s, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg. Further responses including educational forums and actions are being called across the country to be coordinated through a website expected to launch Monday September 14 at www.refugeeswelcome.ca
