No One Is Illegal

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WHO WE ARE...

No One is Illegal (Toronto) is a group of immigrants, refugees and allies who fight for the rights of all migrants to live with dignity and respect. We believe that granting citizenship to a privileged few is part of a racist immigration and border policies designed to exploit and marginalize migrants. We work to oppose these policies, as well as the international economic policies that create the conditions of poverty and war that force migration. At the same time, it is part of our ongoing work to support and build alliances with Indigenous peoples in their fight against colonialism, displacement and the ongoing occupation of their land.

WE DEMAND:

Regularization of all non-status people in Canada
No deportations / No detentions
An end to secret trials
No racial or religious profiling
Recognition of Indigenous sovereignty
An End to Imperialist Wars and Occupations

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Over 100 Rally in Toronto as part of National Days of Action in Solidarity with Laibar Singh and Abdel Kader Belaouni

by csfortier (Past Events | Laibar Singh)

Over 100 Rally In solidarity with Laibar Singh & Abdel Kader Belaouni in Toronto

Watch the video (Courtesy of our comrades at Stolen From Africa): Toronto J26 Action Video

On Saturday, January 26th actions in Mississauga, Ontario took place at the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre (the enforcement arm of Citizenship and Immigration Canada) as part of an action in solidarity with two men in sanctuary in Vancouver and Montreal. Over 100 demonstrators from Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, London and other cities in southwestern Ontario organized and mobilized to deliver written statements in solidarity with Laibar Singh and Abdel Kader Belaouni and calling on STATUS FOR ALL!

At 10:30am on Saturday morning, a bus load of demonstrators coming from downtown Toronto linked up with dozens of members of the Sikh community who came prepared with drums, a food truck and signs reading "End State Racism" and "No One Is Illegal". Demonstrators rallied outside of the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre on Airport Road before marching to the building in an attempt to deliver the letters of support to the GTEC officials. GTEC's response...to go on lockdown....unwilling to even allow a small delegation to deliver the letters staff and security at the GTEC office locked the doors and barricaded the entrances in an effort to shut out the people seeking justice for Mr. Singh and Mr. Belaouni. Chants of "Let them Stay" and "Status for All" flooded the building and could be heard from miles away!

Gurratan Singh Dhaliwal from the Sikh Activist Network reminded the crowd that "this isn't just about Laiber Singh and Abdel Kader Belaouni, but all people living here without status! We demand status for all!"

The actions were organized as part of National Days of Action called in Montreal and Vancouver in solidarity with Abdel Kader Belaouni and Laibar Singh respectively. As immigration enforcement increases its targetting of Laibar Singh and Abdel-Kader Belaouni, people across Canada are demonstrating in the thousands to demand justice for non-status people living in sanctuary, and to demand status for all!

After being denied refugee status by Canada's extremely flawed refugee determination system, Laibar Singh, a paralysed Punjabi refugee claimant, and Abdel-Kader Belaouni, a blind Algerian refugee claimant, were both slapped with deportation orders. Both men made the courageous and difficult decision to not comply with their deportations, instead seeking sanctuary from supportive communities, Laibar in the Abbotsford Sahib Kalgidhar Darbar Gurudwara, and Kader in Montreal's St. Gabriel's church.

Despite massive public support and pressure on the government to grant both men Permanent Residency, both have been repeatedly denied. Instead, Immigration Canada has gone as far as arresting Laibar while he was receiving treatment in a hospital, and forcing Kader to stay in sanctuary for over 2 years!

For more info:
email: nooneisillegal@riseup.net
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100 rally for 2 hiding in sanctuary
By MARC KILCHLING, SUN MEDIA
January 27, 2008

To the beat of two dhols -- Punjabi drums -- about 100 protesters made their way yesterday to the Canada Border Services Agency office next to Pearson airport.

They banged on the glass entrance, but a security guard wouldn't let them in.

The protesters were there to present a letter demanding the government allow Laibar Singh and Abdelkader Belaouni to remain in the country despite outstanding deportation orders.

"When the community gets together in support of stopping people being deported, Immigration Canada slams the doors in our faces!" yelled Mohan Mishra, part of the No One Is Illegal lobby group.

Singh has been living in a Sikh temple in British Columbia while Belaouni has spent the past two years at St. Gabriel's church in Montreal. The two are protected under the tradition of sanctuary.

Singh worked as a labourer on his arrival in Canada but suffered an aneurysm that left him paralyzed.

"There was no deportation order until he got sick and couldn't work," said Gurratan Singh Dhaliwal of the Sikh Activist Network.

Belaouni, who lost his sight at 25, was born in Algeria and fled during its civil war. Hisrefugee claim was denied because of the improved situation in Algeria and his inability to find employment.

"If you are disabled, you will never become a citizen, unless the minister makes an exception," AJ Withers of the Disability Action Network said.