War Resisters Support Campaign Launches
'Let Them Stay Week' on Saturday
by Resisters.ca
More than a dozen events will be taking place in communities across Canada until January 22, including in: Grand Forks, BC; Vancouver, BC; Windsor, ON; Victoria, BC; St. John's, NL; Newmarket, ON; Winnipeg, MB; Halifax, NS; Fredericton, NB; Peterborough, ON; Sudbury, ON; and Toronto, ON.

The War Resisters Support Campaign is launching 'Let Them Stay Week' on Saturday, January 15

- Majority of Canadians want Iraq War resisters to stay
- 12+ events across Canada urge Stephen Harper to give resisters status



The Week begins with an information picket at Market Square in Windsor, ON and a film screening and discussion with Rodney Watson, an Iraq War Resister who is marking his 70th week (more than 480 days) living in sanctuary in Vancouver, BC:


Information picket in support of US Iraq War resisters
Saturday, January 15
11:00 am to 12:00 noon ET
Ottawa Street (across from Market Square)
Windsor, ON


Film screening and discussion with Rodney Watson, Iraq War resister in Sanctuary
Saturday, January 15
2:00 to 4:00 p.m. PT
First United Church
320 East Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC



Iraq War resisters and their supporters in Toronto will also be available for interviews throughout the weekend.

For a full list of Let Them Stay Week events, please see the Resisters.ca website.

"The majority of Canadians have spoken out in support of Iraq War resisters being allowed to stay in Canada," said Michelle Robidoux, spokesperson for the War Resisters Support Campaign. "These young men and women made the difficult decision to cease participation in the illegal and immoral war in Iraq. They have shown tremendous courage, leaving behind their homes, their family and friends."

Yet Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney — both of whom wanted Canada to participate in the Iraq War — are deporting Iraq War resisters.

War resisters Robin Long and Cliff Cornell were sentenced to significant prison terms because the Harper government refused to respect two House of Commons motions (passed June 3, 2008 and March 30, 2009) that directed the government to immediately stop deporting U.S. Iraq War resisters and to facilitate the resisters' requests for permanent resident status from within Canada.

On July 6, 2010, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Jeremy Hinzman. The Court unanimously found that immigration officers must consider war resisters' sincerely-held beliefs and motivations for coming to Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and immigration officers have consistently ignored resisters moral, political and religious beliefs, issuing cookie-cutter decisions that conform to the Immigration Minister's prejudicial comments rather than fairly considering each case based on its merits and the individuals' circumstances.

Jeremy Hinzman's case will be sent back for a new humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds decision. Hinzman was the first U.S. Iraq War resister to come to Canada. Along with his wife Nga Nguyen and their son Liam, he arrived in Canada on January 3, 2004. Jeremy and Nga's daughter Meghan was born in Toronto on July 21, 2008.

Later in July, Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued Operational Bulletin 202, flagging US Iraq war resisters as potentially “criminally inadmissible” to Canada.

Peter Showler, former chair of Canada’s IRB, has written to Minister Kenney urging that the prejudicial directive be rescinded: “The bulletin implies that military deserters from the US should be treated differently than deserters from other countries. There is no basis in law for that proposition.”

Amnesty International Canada has also written to Minister Kenney, calling for the withdrawal of Operational Bulletin 202 because it “misstates the law and seeks to intrude on the independence of both IRB members and Immigration Officers.”

-30-

Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity
For Immediate Release
January 14, 2011