“I'm not hiding from Immigration Canada, but I want to tell them clearly, I will not be presenting myself for deportation. I've been able to achieve autonomy and dignity in Montreal, and I don't want to lose that. My family are my friends here. I am here to defend myself; I am here to defend justice”
Abdelkader Belaouni
Friends, allies and supporters,
Three years, nine months and twenty-two long days after first taking sanctuary in St-Gabriel's church in Montreal, Abdelkader Belaouni is finally free, having won his struggle for status in Canada.
This victory was possible only because of the massive support and incredible solidarity shown by all of you, and so many others. Without the groundswell of support and collective action, he would be forced to continue to live in the church.
Words cannot express the gratitude of Kader, and of the committee as a whole.
Please come celebrate with us!
There will be a party to welcome Kader back into his community and to celebrate this important victory in the struggle for migrant justice on Friday, October 30 at 6pm. There will be music and a potluck dinner, so bring yourselves and a dish to share if you can. The party will be taking place in the basement of St-Gabriel's church, at 2517 rue du Centre, in Pointe-St-Charles.
We also invite you all to come out to the press conference to be held at the church on Tuesday, October 27th at 10h00. We want to have one final showing of the massive public support that Kader has built over the years to make this victory possible.
Sincerely,
Kader and the Committee to Support Abdelkader Belaouni
On January 3, 2006, Abdelkader Belaouni took an inspirational stand against the unjust and discriminatory practices of Citizenship & Immigration Canada. Making his first public appearance at a press conference held at St. Gabriel's church, where he had taken sanctuary 3 days earlier, Kader stated "I'm not hiding from Immigration Canada, but I want to tell them clearly, I will not be presenting myself for deportation. I've been able to achieve autonomy and dignity in Montreal, and I don't want to lose that. My family are my friends here. I am here to defend myself; I am here to defend justice."
Now, almost 4 years later, we have called this press conference to announce that Kader is able to step outside the church grounds without the threat of deportation, having finally received his permanent residency after a tireless campaign. The decision to refuse Kader status on humanitarian grounds by CIC discriminated against him, as it does against others, by reproducing forms of structural discrimination that are already present in society. In Kader's case, he suffered from a kind of double jeopardy, as being blind and of Algerian/Muslim background both worked against him.
Despite Kader and his support committee's attempts at highlighting this discrimination and the unjust CIC decision over the years, four immigration ministers from two separate governments have callously allowed Kader to remain without status all this time, despite being able to intervene on his behalf. However, the lack of responsiveness from many government figures did not prevent Kader and his support committee from mounting an impressive grassroots campaign, through letter-writing initiatives, rallies, neighbourhood BBQs, cultural shows, art & musical collaborations, and more.
Over the years, Kader's campaign for status has received heart-warming and inspirational support and solidarity from hundreds of individuals and organisations, including unions, religious groups, student associations, migrant justice organisations and community groups. This support has stretched from Kader's neighborhood of Pointe St-Charles to the rest of the island of Montreal, ultimately spanning across the country and even internationally. It goes without saying that the victory we are announcing today would not have been possible without the contributions of so many over the past few years. It is important to note that unlike hundreds of thousands of other non-status people in Canada, who have been forced underground to lead a life of daily precarity haunted by the ever-looming threats of detention and deportation, Kader was able to bring his case to the public because of the relative protection afforded him by sanctuary and his community.
We would like to acknowledge the courageous stand taken by Father MacDonald and St. Gabriel's church, who made the just decision to offer Kader sanctuary at the church, especially in a context where the inspirational sanctuary movement of the 1970's and 1980's is sadly but a distant memory for many. From sanctuary at the church, Kader was able to lead, along with his support committee, an epic grassroots campaign for justice, demanding an immediate regularization of his status, and highlighting the many injustices of the Canadian immigration system.
Today marks a significant victory not only for Kader and his supporters, but for the international movement for migrant justice - a movement which confronts violent and repressive immigration and border policies that put profit over people...a movement that seeks to build a world without borders, in which people can move freely, with dignity.
Aaron Lakoff has put together a series of audio recordings, available at his website or from Radio4All
Come out to the show on Friday, April 3rd, at 7pm!
Featuring...
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!
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.
Yves Bourcier took some photos of Kader on Monday. Click the link to view a selection of them.
September 27th 2008 will mark the 1,000th day that Abdelkader (Kader) Belaouni has spent within the confines of Saint-Gabriel's church, denied the freedom to live in his community of Pointe-St-Charles and amongst his hundreds of friends and supporters.
Join us in large numbers on September 27th, 2008 to show that solidarity with Kader is as strong as ever and to send a clear and loud message that his status needs to be regularized now! We need at least 100 people to hold signs that will individually represent ten of the 1,000 days that Kader has been forced to spend in sanctuary.
The first mass public showing of the mobile mural, created by a group of locally and internationally acclaimed artists and writers in the presence of more than 150 people gathered outside the church over the weekend of August 9th and 10th 2008, will also take place on September 27th !
Gather at Phillip's square (corner of Ste-Catherine and Place Phillips, in front of the Bay) at 1 pm, on Saturday, September 27th.
This film about Kader will be presented along with five other 8-minute films on Saturday September 30th starting at 5:30 pm at the Quartier Latin Cinema (Emery/St-Denis).
On the weekend of August 9th & 10th, a group of Montreal artists will be launching a mural project in support of Kader. The mural will be mounted on a large, transportable canvas that can be displayed outdoors, on streets and in community centres around the city and beyond.
We are inviting you to join us, to witness the artists in action, to enjoy the sounds of local musicians, to take part in dance and art workshops offered by community art groups, and to celebrate the finished mural at the end of the weekend.
The mural will be created to support Kader as someone whose story is representative of migration in the 21st century; who has struggled against dehumanizing bureaucracy to be treated with dignity and respect; who has inspired a broad network of support and resistance; who has refused to be crushed by two and a half years of imprisonment, but has grown through the struggle, most remarkably as an artist himself.
Coffee/Beverages/Snacks served all day!
(In case of heavy rain, workshops will be cancelled. However, the mural painting and launch will continue!)
Saturday, August 9th, 10am - 4:30pm
Sunday August 10th, 1pm - 7pm
Come join us for great food on the grill (plenty of food to please vegetarians and carnivores alike), kids' activities (organized by Solidarity Across Borders and the Childcare Collective), and warm company with Kader!
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE BRING FOOD TO SHARE!
(If you can bring some food, please contact Jordan (jordan (at) resist (dot) ca) or Freda (freda (dot) guttman (at) gmail (dot) com to coordinate food.)
WHEN: Sunday, July 20th 2008, 3:00pm (Rain date: Sunday, July 27th, 2008)
WHERE: In the backyard of St-Gabriel's church, 2157 Center street, metro Charlevoix
23 and Kader have released a CD. Check out the MySpace page here.
For more information on getting a copy of the CD, contact the committee at soutienkader at gmail.com
Kader's supporters will once again march as a bloc in the annual Status for All march, organized by Solidarity Across Borders, which will take place in the neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges. Stay tuned for more details or feel free to contact the committee if you'd like to help out and take part. For more information about the march and to find out how you can get involved, contact solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com.
The Committee to Support Abdelkader Belaouni and Public Transit Records present a night of music, featuring Toronto-based LAL (www.lalforest.com, www.myspace.com/lalforest), who will be launching their new CD Deportation, and Kader B. & Tu-Three, who will be performing cuts from their upcoming independent release. Mark your calendars, stay tuned for more details, and be sure not to miss this special event, taking place as a part of Mayworks, an annual cultural celebration of worker's struggles.
View 23 and Kader's Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/23andkader
On Friday April 25th from 5-6pm CKUT and Kader will broadcast the 19th installment of RADIO SANCTUARY, a live hour-long remote broadcast hosted by Abdelkader Belaouni.
This special edition is dedicated to the late Oscar Peterson with guest OLIVER JONES, renowned jazz pianist and Oscar's friend. Oliver and Kader will discuss Oscar Peterson's legacy, Oliver's own music and career, growing up in the poor, black neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, the early jazz scene in Montréal, plus you'll hear samples of their incredible musicianship. Kader and Oliver will be joined by other local musicians who have been invited to participate in the discussion.
Click here for photos from past Radio Sanctuary broadcasts...
Organized by the Committee to Support Abdelkader Belaouni, in conjunction with DAMN 2025 (Toronto) and the Multi-Ethnic Association for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities, this event provides a forum to discuss the intersections of disability and immigration in Canada, and the role of disability and people with disabilities and allies in struggles for migrant justice. Join us to take part in this important discussion. The discussion begins at 7pm, and will be preceded by a film screening of 'Acting Blind', starting at 6pm.
Film - 6:00pm
*ACTING BLIND (in English, with narration. 2006, 52 min, directed by Martin Duckworth)
This documentary film follows the cast of a play as they gather to rehearse for an upcoming performance. The play they are staging is the story of several blind characters negotiating their way through the tricky emotional and physical maze of life without sight. Most of these actors understand their roles extremely well. Most of these actors are either blind or visually impaired. The film takes us deep into the lives of the actors as we hear their stories and experiences. Martin Duckworth will be available for questions following the film.
Presentations - 7:00pm
*ABDELKADER BELAOUNI : On 1 January 2006, Abelkader (Kader) Belaouni, a non-status Algerian man, took refuge in St. Gabriel's church in Montreal to avoid deportation from Canada. Despite an outpouring of support demanding status for Kader, he has remained a prisoner in the church ever since, unable to leave for fear of being arrested and deported. As demonstrated by the Quebec Civil Liberties Union, Kader's applications for status in Canada were rejected in part because of the systemic discrimination against people with disabilities by Immigration Canada.
*TERESA PENAFIEL : A member of the Multi-ethnic Association for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (MAIPD). MAIPD was created to provide persons with disabilities from ethnocultural backgrounds and their families a resource that supports them at all stages of their integration and guides them towards the resources they need. They have played an important role in challenging immigration policies which perpetuate the exclusion of migrant people with disabilities from gaining status in Canada.
*MEMBERS OF DAMN 2025: Based in Toronto, DAMN 2025 is direct action group currently bringing together disabled people, those affected by ableism (i.e. discrimination against people with disabilities), and supporters. DAMN 2025 believes that accessibility is more than adding in ramps, it is about ensuring that things are made accessible in a wide variety of ways to a wide variety of people. It also means looking at how different identities intersect and ensuring that there is room for everyone in our struggles. DAMN 2025 recently held a community forum in Toronto to discuss the role disability and people with disabilities in community organizing and struggles for social justice. The forum was followed by a demonstration demanding status for Abdelkader Belaouni.
*COMMUNITIES UNITING: Talking About Justice, Disability & Possibilities (DAMN 2025, short video excerpt) Taken from an event on March 19, 2008, held in Toronto: "Disabled people are imprisoned, impoverished and denied immigration status. The only way this will ever change is if disabled people and our supporters join together to fight for justice for everyone. Disabled people are an important part of every community. This should make us an important part of every community organizing effort, which largely isn't the case."