****PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY. ALSO PRINT AND POST IN HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS. IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH FOR SOME****

STOP the Deportations events in Montreal - JAN 21 & JAN 25

On January 30th a three-month stay of deportations of non-status Algerians from Canada will come to an end, which was granted after an inspiring and mobilizing fight by the Action Committee for Non- Status Algerians. Now as January 30th approaches, the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians is calling for support and solidarity from the Montreal community to fight the impending deportations.

As an effort to continue the struggle against the deportation of non-status Algerian refugees until all non-status Algerians in Canada are regularized and the deportations cease, we are organizing two upcoming events in January:

1) Stop the Deportations! A panel with speakers from the Action Commitee of Non Status Algerians, GRILA, and PINAY---Jan 21, 2003

2) A Solidarity March with Montreal's Non-Status Algerians---Jan 25, 2003

Stop the Attacks on Immigrant & Refugees!
Solidarity with Canada's Non-Status Algerians!
Stop the Deportations!

No One is Illegal Campaign of Montreal--- nooneisillegal@tao.ca 
514-409-2049
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STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!

A panel presented by the No one is Illegal Campaign and QPIRG-McGill
January 21, 2003 @ 7 pm
McGill University Leacock 26 (855 Sherbrooke West)

With Speakers from
* The Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians
* GRILA (the Group on Research and Initiatives for the Liberation of Africa)
* PINAY (Philipina Womens Group)

The recent struggle of non-status Algerians in Montreal has been inspiring and mobilizing. Faced with the lifting of the moratorium on removals to Algeria, non-status Algerians led by the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians have fought to stop the deportations. But now the deadline and stay of deportations granted will now come to and end on January 30, 2003.

This panel also brings to mind that the lifting of the moratorium on deportations to Algerians was not well-motivated, since Canada is still officially advising Canadians not to go to Algeria for security reasons; yet Canada's financial interests in NEPAD continue in order to secure economic benefits in a country where increasing militarization has claimed 150,000 lives. The Action Committe maintains that Canada aims to defend and promote the economic interests of the elite who want open borders for business in Algeria, without considering that it also facilitates the deportation of non-status to a country where demonstrators are assassinated.

This panel is part of an effort to relaunch the Stop the Deportations! Campaign and to reinforce the demands calling for an end to deportations, the return of the moratorium, and the regularisation of non-Status Algerians.

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SOLIDARITY MARCH WITH MONTREAL'S NON-STATUS ALGERIANS
THE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE CONTINUES

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Saturday, January 25th @ 1pm
Gathering Point: Citizenship & Immigration Canada
1010 St-Antoine West * (metro Bonaventure)
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We will march through downtown Montreal to the Complexe Guy-Favreau

As the end of a three month stay on deportations draws to an end -- many non-status Algerians who have lived in Montreal for an average of four years -- risk being deported to Algeria. In spite of "joint procedures" for accepting certain "non-status" Algerians put into place by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Quebec Immigration at the end of October, 2002, many non-status will face removal to a country where an ongoing civil conflict has taken more than 150,000 lives.

Even one deportation is too many!

We call on all residents of Montreal to demonstrate their solidarity with non-status Algerians, and with all immigrants and refugees.

This is a child- and family-friendly march. Bring your banners, placards and noisemakers.

Organized by the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians, in collaboration with the No One Is Illegal Campaign of Montreal.

If your group or organization would like to endorse this demonstration, please email endorsements to nooneisillegal@tao.ca 

For more information:
nooneisillegal@tao.ca  * 514-409-2049
http://www.tao.ca/~sans-statut 

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Update & Background:

On January 30th a three-month stay of deportations of non-status Algerians from Canada will come to an end. The stay was won after Mourad Bourouisa, Yakout Seddiki and their two year old son Ahmed took refuge in the First Union United Church for 11 days last October, defying the deportation order issued by Immigration Canada. On October 30th, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Quebec Immigration (MRCI) issued a "joint solution" in response to the Stop the Deportations campaign, which suspended all deportations for three months and allows people to apply for Immigration status within Quebec.

The campaign to Stop the Deportations of non-status Algerians was initiated by the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians, after the moratorium on deportations to Algeria was lifted by CIC on April 5, 2002. The Stop the Deportations Campaign has been centered around three demands: an end to the deportations; the reinstatement of the moratorium on removals to Algeria, and the complete regularization of all non-status Algerians. A fourth demand has recently been added: the return of the 32 non-status Algerians deported since the lifting of the moratorium.

The "joint solution" issued by Immigration Canada and Quebec Immigration (MRCI) does not meet these demands. Moreover, the "joint solution" issued on October 30th does not resolve or even address the reality that non-status Algerians face a violent future if they are deported to Algeria. They will be forced to return to a war-torn country where massacres take place on a regular basis, and where many face the possibility of death and torture.

During the three-month stay, non-status Algerians whose refugee claims have been rejected by Immigration Canada have been given the opportunity to submit claims for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Those non-status Algerians living in Quebec at the time that the moratorium on deportations to Algeria was lifted have been allowed to make applications for selection as landed immigrants by Quebec Immigration, and to do so without leaving the province.

It is worth noting that many non-status Algerians are unable to pay for their entire family's application for permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The application costs $550.00 per adult and an additional $150.00 for each dependent child.

This "solution" presented by Immigration Quebec and Immigration Canada does not satisfactorily resolve the crisis. Remy Trudel, Quebec Minister of Relations with Citizens and Immigration, has himself stated that not more than 300 non-status Algerians will be accepted as immigrants according to the joint procedures. That will leave approximately 700 more non-status Algerian refugees facing the possibility of deportation back to
Algeria after January 30th.

As January 30th approaches, the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians is calling for support and solidarity from the Montreal community to fight the impending deportations. The Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians and its supporters will continue the struggle against the deportation of non-status Algerian refugees until all non-status Algerians in Canada are regularized and the deportations cease.

Stop the Attacks on Immigrant & Refugees! Solidarity with Canada's Non-Status Algerians! Stop the Deportations!

http://www.tao.ca/~sans-statut