Palestinian Refugee Vigil Against Deportation in Toronto

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Tuesday, February 15th, 5pm
Immigration Refugee Board
74 Victoria Street
(South of Queen, East of Yonge)
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Palestinian Refugee Vigil Against Deportation to begin the "Week of Shame"
A Week of Activities Exposing New Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, and his
Ministry's Legacy of Corruption and Discrimination.

Palestinian refugees and members of various faith communities will gather
for a vigil in front of the Immigration Refugee Board (74 Victoria Street)
on Tuesday, February 15 at 5pm. They will be there to protest the
corruption of the refugee determination process, the government clampdown
on sanctuary for refugees, and the Safe Third Country Agreement between
Canada and the United States.

Since 2002, when the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act came into
effect, an appeals process was created for refugee determination decisions
in law, but never put into practice. As such no appeal exists for failed
claimants. In addition, the number of Immigration Board Members (judges)
who decide on a refugee claim was reduced from two to one. The fate of any
refugee claimant rests in the hands of only one politically appointed
board member, without any avenue for appeal.

Palestinian refugees in particular have come under attack from Citizenship
and Immigration Canada (CIC). Currently hundreds of Palestinian refugees
in Canada face imminent deportation, some to the United States, where they
could end up in indefinite detention. Most of the refugees are from the
refugee camps of Lebanon and from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The vigil will focus on the case of the Ayoub family, three refugees over
the age of 62 from Ain el-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon. The Ayoubs have
been in sanctuary in Montreal's Notre-Dame-De-Grace Church since January
2004. CIC has announced that the decision for this family's Humanitarian
and Compassionate application will be delivered in the next month.

Canada's Safe Third Country with the United States is another cause of
major concern for refugees and refugee rights groups, as well as various
community organizations across the continent. The Safe Third Country
Agreement is far from safe. Thousands of refugee claimants will be refused
entry into Canada, and will have to suffer incarceration, discrimination
and lack of protection that exists in the US refugee determination
process. The agreement will also mean a dramatic rise in human trafficking
across the border from the US.