A feature on the November 9th demonstration in Montreal organized in solidarity with the over 1000 Algerians facing deportation from Canada. This piece looks at the current context of resistance to deportations within the Algerian community.
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-- Non-status Algerians and allies march in downtown Montreal
MONTREAL, November 11, 2002 -- At least 300 Montreal residents marched through the streets of downtown Montreal this past Saturday afternoon, demanding an immediate regularization of the status of the more than 1000 non-status Algerians living in Canada. Over 3000 flyers were passed out to the large crowds on the sidewalks of Ste-Catherine Street.
The march began outside the main offices of Immigration Canada, with addresses by Mohammed Cherfi and Ymene Zoubiri of the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians. The Action Committee members expressed their skepticism of the new "joint procedures" announced by Canadian Immigration Minister Denis Coderre and his Quebec counterpart, Remy Trudel. They stressed that the case of non-status Algerians was one of asylum and protection, not of immigration.
The demo ended at the offices of the Immigration and Refugee Board. Two indigenous activists offered messages of solidarity to the non-status Algerians : Charlie Wolf Smoke, a Lakota/Mohawk living in Regina, who refuses to recognize either Canadian or American jurisdiction over his citizenship; and Sean Brandt, a member of the Tyendinaga Mohawk nation, and an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). Another member of the Action Committee, Soumya Boussouf, expressed thanks to all participants on behalf of the non-status Algerian community in Montreal.
For more info, please consult : http://www.tao.ca/~sans-statut.
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