verbena-19

Canadian Refugee Claimant Faces Death if Deported

The Canadian government is acting in a Bush-like manner in this case. I have not heard valid reasons why Mr. Fuad al-Mansuri should be deported back to Libya, where he faces a "death sentence", Mr. al-Mansuri disclosed. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe has not responded to questions about this case, and so far, no reasons were given as to why al-Mansuri's refugee claim was refused, after having lived and worked in Canada for seven years. They have two Canadian-born children, and had just lost one little son to a fatal illness.

MP Joe Comartin (NDP--Windsor-Tecumseh) and Amnesty International Canada are the only ones looking into this case, and both have grave concerns. The Liberals, as usual, are too wrapped-up in red-tape -- and with the upcoming election -- to pay much attention. Meanwhile this tragedy will unfold, the al-Mansuri family will be uprooted, and they will suffer further injustices, unendurable pain, and possibly more death for this already devastated family.

Those of you readers here who care, please write, call, and let your voices be heard!! Fuad al-Mansuri has been ordered to report to Immigration officials at Pearson International Airport on December 12th! Urgent action is needed to stop this unjust, immoral deportation! Please do whatever you are able! We must not allow Canada to become like the U.S.! Canada espouses 'human rights' and humane treatment, but lip-service is meaningless without appropriate actions to follow it up. --- Annamarie

Mr. Joe Volpe, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration: Minister@cic.gc.ca

Trail Daily Times
Thursday » November 24 » 2005

Death awaits, man fears
Don Lajoie
Windsor Star

Thursday, November 24, 2005

CREDIT: Dan Janisse, Star photo
Nuria Ben Amer, wife of Fuad al-Mansuri, weeps as she discusses the death of her one-year-old son and the looming deportation of her husband. Amer also faces deportation. The couple has lived in Canada for seven years. See Photo

" Two weeks after burying his infant son, a refugee claimant who has lived seven years in Canada says he faces a "death sentence" if he is deported to Libya next month.

Fuad al-Mansuri, 46, of Windsor, has been ordered to report to the Canadian Immigration Centre at Pearson Airport in Toronto Dec. 12 and to hand in his social insurance identification, his OHIP card and his driver's licence before boarding a flight for Tripoli.

Al-Mansuri said the deportation order came days after he buried one-year-old Hisham, who died Nov. 11 from an immunodeficiency disorder.

The boy, who was being treated at London Children's Hospital, died amid efforts by al-Mansuri, his wife and MP Joe Comartin (NDP--Windsor-Tecumseh) to bring one of the child's siblings from Libya for a bone marrow donation.

That effort became bound in the red tape and procedural wrangling with Immigration Canada surrounding Al-Mansuri's bid for asylum.

Comartin called the government's treatment of the family "disgusting."

"This family has gone through hell.... Yet the minister runs around this country saying all he's doing for newcomers."

Al-Mansuri, a former Libyan soldier who works as a welder, is the sole support for his family. His wife, Nuria Ben Amer, was unable to work while she cared for her sick child. She also faces deportation.

The future of their Canadian children, aged four and five, is unclear, though they have the right to remain in Canada. The family also has two children, aged 11 and 15, living with relatives in Libya.

"I can't believe I must leave my child buried in a country I will never see again," said Ben Amer. "We only want to live like anyone else. We did our best to come here because Canada is supposed to care and respect human rights. We want only to have a future, to be left alone."

Comartin said no proof of wrongdoing by al-Mansuri has ever been provided by immigration officials, yet the government seeks to deny the family a future in a country where he has a home and hopes to reunite his family and get them into Canadian schools.

Calls to Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe weren't returned.

According to a pre-removal risk assessment issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, al-Mansuri's refugee application was rejected in August after it was determined he would not be in danger of torture, death or "cruel and unusual treatment" if he were deported to Libya.

But Gloria Nafziger, refugee co-ordinator for Amnesty International in Toronto, said the human rights organization has concerns about the fate of failed refugee applicants.

She said that as recently as 2002, asylum seekers tracked by the rights group have "disappeared" after they were returned to the North African desert nation ruled by strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

More recently, the group has determined not all returned refugees are "detained" or held in secret but, at the very least, are kept under surveillance.

One man, who lived in the U.K. for 25 years, was returned to Libya and immediately detained, she said. The family has not heard from him since.

"Asylum seekers could be put at risk if returned to Libya," she said. "There's certainly a history there.... We continue to have serious concerns about their human rights."

Al-Mansuri will not reveal details of his refugee claim, saying disclosure may put family remaining in Libya in danger and place him at further risk upon his return.

He will say only there were orders in the military that he could not follow and he decided to "escape."

Al-Mansuri and his wife came to Canada in 1999 on visitors' visas, travelling through Tunisia.

John Haidar, a board member with Windsor's Arab Canadian Intercultural Orientation Centre, said al-Mansuri has been a good citizen since coming to Windsor.

He is "a workaholic," active in his community and his mosque.

"This needs attention," Haidar said. "He has been without his (Libyan) children for seven years."

© The Windsor Star 2005

posted by Annamarie at 2:09 PM