Feb 26, 2003 U.S. crackdown drives Muslims toward Canada
Refugee claimants jam border posts
MARK BELLIS
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
LACOLLE, Que.—After surviving winter's wrath to reach this desolate border post on the way to Montreal from New York state, about 20 refugee claimants huddle inside a large waiting room, waiting to be buzzed in by an immigration official. Most looked terrified earlier this month as they waited for their names to be called. Their concerns were not unfounded.
Refugee claimants have overwhelmed Canadian border posts since December when the American Department of Justice added Pakistan to a list of mostly Muslim nations, and North Korea, as countries whose visitors must undergo special registration.
Men aged 16 and older from these countries, who are not permanent residents or United States citizens, are required to report for interviews where they are also fingerprinted and photographed, steps the U.S. government has said are necessary to fight terrorism and track illegal aliens.
Fearing deportation, more and more refugee claimants — mostly from Pakistan — are seeking shelter in Canada.
Jalil Mirza was among hundreds of other Pakistanis fleeing the post-9/11 crackdown on illegal immigrants. He quit his job, packed up his possessions and headed north rather than face a forced return to Pakistan.
After a 16-hour bus ride from Virginia with his wife and seven children, he crossed into Canada from Burlington, Vt., hoping to gain asylum.
Besieged Canadian officials told him to come back in two weeks.
But when he dragged their suitcases back to the American side, U.S. immigration agents promptly arrested him and his two teenage sons, leaving the rest of the family wailing in despair in the icy cold.
The Mirzas are part of an unusual and chaotic exodus that has jammed land crossings from the U.S. into Canada over the past two weeks, overwhelming immigration officials and refugee aid groups on both sides of the border.
In Ontario alone, 871 people applied for asylum in January, nearly double the number in November. Pakistani refugee claimants represented only 5 per cent of claims in November, surging to 49 per cent in January.
In Buffalo, it now takes at least 14 days just to get an appointment at the Canadian border. It used to take a few days.
Once in Canada, refugee claimants can expect their cases to be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board, a quasi-judicial tribunal whose members hear evidence during a face-to-face hearing, then render a decision on the refugee claim. Only about 55 per cent of refugee applications are accepted.
Rejean Cantlon, a spokesperson for Immigration Canada, said many more claimants are sent back to the U.S. with future appointments because "there are not enough translators or immigration officials available."
Back on American soil, hardship awaits.
Some are arrested by immigration officials for the same reason they seek refuge — not having proper paperwork — and return much poorer after paying bonds that start at $1,500 (U.S.).
A few are simply jailed.
But most head for emergency shelters, hoping for assistance until their hearings.
"It's an outrage. It's not the thing a great nation is supposed to do," said Patrick Giantonio, who helps run Vermont Refugee Assistance.
"I am crying, my wife is crying," said Samir Sheik, a Pakistani who had been working as a street vendor in New York City and was arrested at a checkpoint on his way to the Canadian border for having overstayed his visa.
Sheik said he could not return to Pakistan because he and his wife married against the wishes of both their families and he feared his wife would be killed by her father.
His wife, Erim Salim, shuffled silently around the crowded Salvation Army centre in Burlington, where they had been reunited after she borrowed from friends and neighbours to pay his $5,000 (U.S.) bond.
"She is sick now, mentally," said Sheik, nodding toward her sadly. "Millions of people live here and are overstays. Why is it only for Pakistanis and Muslim people that they do this?"
Hiraj Zafer, a Pakistani cook from Salt Lake City who was also trying to enter Canada, gave an answer. "After 9/11, people hate us," Zafer said.
Sheik said: "Yes, they hate us. But we love America. We feel free here."
Mirza joined the refrain, saying he loves America and does not want to leave.
A former restaurant manager in Virginia with four children born in the U.S., Mirza, 45, managed to scrape together the $4,500 (U.S.) he needed to get himself and his older sons out of jail. His family stayed two weeks in a shelter in Burlington, until yesterday when they had an 8 a.m. appointment with Canadian immigration officials.
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