>> Saturday: Rally and March in support of Kader
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - 07:17 PM
LET HIM OUT! LET HIM STAY! 3 YEARS IS TOO LONG.
Rally & March through Pointe St.Charles
Date: Saturday **JANUARY 17**, 1pm
Location: 2157 rue Centre, St. Gabriel`s Church, Charlevoix Metro
For more info please go to www.soutienpourkader.net
or write to soutienkader@gmail.com or call (514)848-7583
January 5th 2009 will mark 3 YEARS that Abdelkader Belaouni, a refugee from Algeria, has been stranded in a church in Pointe St.Charles. He took sanctuary in 2006 to avoid deportation by the Canadian government back to Algeria. Ever since, Kader and his community – his friends and supporters across Montreal, and across the world – have been working to push for Kader to be able to remain here with his community in Montreal.
Much has happened over the last 3 years but still Kader spends every day and every night in the church, facing the imminent threat of deportation. Kader and his supporters have organized three years of community events at the church, dozens of marches and demonstrations in Montreal, across Canada and across the world. 3 Canadian ministers of immigration have come and gone. Hundreds of Montreal and nation-wide organizations, politicians, celebrity artists and musicians have written letters of support. 25 editions of Kader's monthly radio show have been broadcasted from the church rectory. 3 years of daily visits from friends and supporters bringing food and other supplies and 3 years of weekly strategizing meetings with Kader and his support committee have gone by.
Kader has learned to use screen-reading computer software for blind
people, as well as learned to play the piano, the guitar, the recorder
and the melodica, and released a CD of original works with
Montreal-based artist Tu-Three. He has seen 5 people come forward to
financially sponsor him. He has been the subject of an endless stream of
newspaper and magazine articles, radio and film documentaries and TV
specials featuring his struggle for justice.
Supporters have taken trips to Ottawa to strategize with members of
parliament who are also working to get Kader's status regularized.
Energy, support and creativity have been pouring into the campaign to
have Kader stay with his community in Montreal. Stranded in santuary for
3 years, Kader and his supporters ask you to come out to ensure that our
message is heard loud and clear: LET HIM OUT! LET HIM STAY! 3 YEARS
IS TOO LONG.
Please come out on ***SATURDAY, JANUARY 17th*** to show your support for
Kader, and to demand to the new minister of immigration, Jason Kenney,
that Kader be granted his status IMMEDIATELY. We will be meeting at the
church for a rally with Kader, and then marching through his home
neighbourhood of Pointe St.Charles. We are inviting supporting
organizations to bring their banners and placards to show their support
for Kader. We will also have materials on had for groups to make their
own signs. Food & Warm beverages will be served!
::::BACKGROUND::::
In November 2005, Abdelkader Belaouni (Kader) was told that his
application to stay in Canada was rejected and that he would be
deported. Kader's refugee claim was rejected by the Immigration and
Refugee Board Commissioner, Laurier Thibault, who refused 99% of the
cases placed before him in a two-year period. Later decisions by
Immigration Canada failed to take into account the fact that Kader is
blind, and, as a result, experiences significant discrimination and
barriers, particularly when it comes to finding stable employment.
Kader's life has already been uprooted on two separate occasions. First
he escaped the brutal civil war in Algeria, which saw hundreds of
thousands of civilians die; the second time he fell privy to the
post-September 11th Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS)
"special registration" program in the United States, which applied to
all men born in Muslim-majority countries living in the United States.
Facing deportation from Canada, Kader took the courageous decision to
stand up for his dignity as a human being, and insist on his right to
stay in Montreal. His struggle mirrors that of many other refugees and
migrants in Canada and around the world, who are uprooted and denied the
right to seek a life of security and dignity. Like Kader, many refugees
and migrants become economically marginalized, forced to live in
precarious circumstances, imprisoned, and threatened with deportation.
Kader's decision to stay in Canada has met with an outpouring of support
from his friends, as well as from individuals and organizations across
Quebec, Canada and even internationally. Over 70 organizations and
networks, representing more than 250 groups in Quebec alone, support
status for Kader, including community organizations from his
neighbourhood, student organizations, disability rights groups, migrant
justice groups, faith-based organizations, and human rights organizations
such as Amnesty International.
The Committee to Support Abdelkader Belaouni
For more info please go to www.soutienpourkader.net
