Migrant groups protest immigration detention, support detainees on hunger strike

Migrant groups protest immigration detention, support detainees on hunger strike

Protesters holding placards in front of the Immigration building at 25 St. Claire East (PHOTOS: LQ)

By Lui Queaño

Migrant groups who were barred from the “secretive-invitation-only-consultation” converged in front of the Immigration building along 25 St. Clair Ave. East on Tuesday July 19 where the consultation was being held to protest to Immigration Minister John McCallum over immigration detention and in support of the hunger striking immigrant detainees.

“We know that the voices of 500,000 undocumented migrants across Canada will not be heard at this consultation. We know that the 100,000 of migrant workers will not be heard at this consultation. We know that the voices of the 1.5 million people with precarious status will never be at this consultation,” said Tings Chak, organizer of the End Immigration Detention Network.

End of Immigration Detention Network, a member of a coalition of migrant’s justice group since 2013 protested along with other community leaders and supporters to end immigration indefinite detention saying there’s only one alternative left for the government and that is to release the detainees and give them a permanent immigrant status.

“We have sent mass letters to Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale as part of the campaign to demand the release of these immigrant detainees from prison. There was no active response from Minister Goodale except on the first day of the strike when he said that they will consider all possible alternatives before detaining someone. But that’s not an adequate answer. There’s no reasonable alternative but to immediately release these detainees to their respective families and community”, Chak said.

Tings Chak (on mic) of End to Immigration Detention Network in front of the Immigration building at 25 St. Clair East

The 50 brown and black immigrant detainees who have been on a hunger strike since July 11 are being held inside Lindsay Central East correctional center in a maximum security prison without charges and trial.

According to Immigration Consultant McDonald Scott who has been working with immigration and detainees for the past 15 years, “the morale is high inside the detention center because the detainees feel that their voices are being heard.”

Scott however said that it is not enough for as long as Minister Ralph Goodale refuses to meet with them to discuss the plight of the detained immigrants.

To date, 15 people have died in immigration detention and three in the last five months alone under the Liberal government. Goodale promised the group changes will come in the fall which Scott rebutted to be too long and that they could not wait for another decade for these detained immigrants freed out of the maximum security detention.

Jailed without charges or trial, Abdul Rahman Ibrahim Hassan died on June 11, 2015 while in the custody of the immigration after being restrained by guards. No investigation took place into his death until after one year when Special Investigations Unit (SIU) released its own report saying no one is responsible for Hassan’s death.

Three months ago, Francisco Javier Romero Astorga from Chile was reported to have died under maximum security prison on March 13, 2016. His family has been looking for him only to find out Astorga’s death on Facebook. Astorga came and worked in Canada for many years, saved money and returned to Chile but decided to return to Canada after his business in Chile didn’t do well. He was detained and arrested at the airport upon his return with no clear reason. A few months later he was arrested again and put and died in prison.

“It is immigration detention that is killing these people. It is this system that denies these people their status. It is this system that racially profiles these migrants. It is this system that locks these people away without trial or charges. To date we don’t know who was responsible for Astorga’s death or when was the last time he was seen alive,” Syed Hussan from Migrant Workers Alliance Centre (MWAC) said during the protest rally.

Rapunzel Vorngut of Gabriela Ontario joined the protest in support of the hunger strikers who were on its 9th day of hunger strike in Lindsay correctional provincial jail. “The only alternative left for Minister McCallum is to give these detainees permanent immigration status. This is true for all the people in immigration detention and for all undocumented and precarious people across the country,” Vorngut added.

Minister John McCallum was not available for comment as the immigration security guard prevented the press from getting into the building where the supposed consultation was taking place.