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Published on Friday,
January 25, 2008 by
CommonDreams.org
US War Resisters in Canada Face
Deportation and Prison: You Can Help Them
by Laura Kaminker
We all dream of peace. But what have we sacrificed to make peace
a reality?
Some American men and women have risked everything to help end
the Iraq War. And right now they need our help.
Hundreds of United States servicepeople have refused to
participate in the US occupation of Iraq. Some of these war
resisters, now “absent without leave,” have gone to Canada, but
Canada has not yet granted them asylum. In fact, deportation
proceedings have begun against some resisters. If forced to return
to the U.S., they face court martial, military prison and damaging
criminal records.
We can’t let this happen.
* * * *
Perhaps you wonder, as many people do, if these men and women
didn’t want to fight in Iraq, then why did they enlist?
Some joined the United States military because of “the poverty
draft”: they had no health insurance, no money for education, and
very few options. Military recruiters were a permanent fixture in
their high schools, peddling a seductive package of false hope and
lies. For a view into the poverty draft, I highly recommend reading
The Deserter’s Tale, written by war resister Joshua Key and
Canadian author Lawrence Hill.
Others volunteered after September 11, 2001, because they wanted
to help prevent more terrorist attacks. Some resisters served in
Afghanistan, but refused deployment to Iraq.
Most came from homes and communities where people didn’t question
the government. There were terrorists over there and we had to get
them before they got us over here. That’s what they were told, and
they had no reason to doubt it.
Then they went to Iraq.
There, they saw for themselves that the entire pretence for the
invasion and the occupation was a lie. And they saw - to their shock
and horror - that in Iraq, the United States were the terrorists.
Some served out their contracts and were discharged, only to be
“stop-lossed”: involuntarily re-enlisted. Others came home on leave
and refused to return. They didn’t want to die for a lie. And they
didn’t want to kill.
Their actions, though moral, were illegal. In the US, they faced
military prison and a “bad conduct discharge” - a felony offense -
for refusing to deploy. So they left their families and friends,
left their country, and went north, to Canada. Many have been
ostracized from their families, who condemn them as cowards. One
resister told me his mother said she’d rather he died in Iraq than
shamed them by deserting.
With the help of the
War Resisters Support Campaign, a coalition of activists (many
of whom were Vietnam War resisters, now Canadian citizens), about 50
service people have applied for refugee status to live legally in
Canada. (It is thought that a few hundred additional resisters are
living underground in Canada.)
Because of the current Conservative government, and the
repressive post-9/11 political climate, every resister’s request for
asylum has been rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board. In
November, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear the cases of
Brandon Hughey and Jeremy Hinzman, the first resisters to apply.
At that time, some US media implied that the resisters’ cause had
been defeated - but that is not true. It was a huge disappointment,
but it was also a new beginning for the movement.
The War Resisters Support Campaign stepped up its political
efforts. It determined to deploy the greatest weapon for peace that
Canada possesses: the Canadian people.
Canada did not participate in the invasion of Iraq, and the huge
majority of Canadians oppose the Iraq War. Unlike in the US,
Canadian representatives actually listen and respond to their
constituents! The Support Campaign has been urging Canadians to
contact their Members of Parliament with one message: Let Them Stay.
The Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper
is not sympathetic to the war resisters - but it is a minority
government. This means the united opposition - the Liberals, the New
Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Québécois - outnumber the
Conservatives. The Campaign proposed that a resolution be passed in
the House of Commons allowing US war resisters to remain legally in
Canada.
The NDP quickly advanced the resolution and the Bloc added its
support. But, although many Liberal Members of Parliament personally
support the resisters, the Liberal Party has not officially
supported the resolution.
In December - thanks to the Campaign’s persistent lobbying
efforts, and members of the three opposition parties working
together - the Committee on Immigration recommended that the
resolution be passed. It was a huge victory.
Now the resolution has been introduced in the House of Commons; a
united opposition is needed to pass it. If the NDP, Bloc and
Liberals all vote in favour of the resolution, the Conservative
government is not actually obligated to implement it, but it would
be an unprecedented breach of trust - not to mention democracy - if
they did not.
Support campaign organizers believe they are very close to
getting the resolution passed - but they don’t have much time.
Deportation proceedings have already begun against four resisters,
including two families with young children. Will the House of
Commons pass the resolution before any war resisters are deported?
* * * *
In discussing this issue with supposedly progressive Americans, I
was shocked - and frankly disgusted - to learn that some people who
oppose the war in Iraq do not support the war resisters’ cause.
Their argument: “If they didn’t join in the first place, there
wouldn’t be a war!”
This strikes me as both extremely naïve and horribly selfish.
Many of us were fortunate to grow up in homes where questioning
authority was encouraged, where dissent and protest were a way of
life - not to mention in families that could afford higher education
and health care. If you cannot imagine what kind of background might
lead someone to enlist in the US military, I again recommend The
Deserter’s Tale.
But even if we never would have made such a choice, do we want to
see people who have experienced such a radical change of mind
punished for their beliefs? Isn’t this the very change of heart that
we wish to instill in others? And most importantly, should a person
be imprisoned for refusing to kill?
Many of us always knew the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do
with stopping terrorism or spreading democracy. If the war resisters
have come to this truth a little later, they have done so at a much
greater price. If we are truly people of peace, it is our moral
obligation to stand beside people who have risked everything to help
end this war.
In the US, On Friday, January 25, Americans will
demonstrate in front of Canadian consulates in six cities.
The effort is spearheaded by Courage To Resist and joined by
Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War and the
thousands of local peace groups that belong to United for Peace and
Justice. You can join demonstrations in Washington DC, New York, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Minneapolis. (Details at
http://couragetoresist.org.)
In Canada, Saturday, January 26, is a Pan-Canadian Day of
Action in support of war resisters.
Events will be held in 12 cities, where Canadians will write letters
demanding that the resolution be passed.
Everyone can write letters to Prime Minister Stephen
Harper and Liberal leader Stéphane Dion.
This is a crucial part of the campaign. See Courage To Resist’s
“Dear Canada” campaign (couragetoresist.org)
or the War Resisters Support Campaign (resisters.ca).
By the time the Canadian Parliament resumes on January 29,
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion will have received hundreds, maybe
thousands, of letters, all demanding one thing: Let Them Stay.
During the Vietnam War, at least 50,000 - possibly as many as
80,000 - Americans went to Canada to escape the draft or because
they did not want to live in a country that would perpetrate such an
immoral, needless war. What many people don’t know is that Canada
did not immediately allow the Vietnam resisters to stay. The
Canadian peace movement campaigned on behalf of the resisters and
pressured their government to do the right thing. Finally, Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau said, “Canada should be a refuge from
militarism.”
Once again, Canadians are calling on Canada to be a refuge from
militarism. You can help make this happen.
Laura Kaminker, a
writer, moved from the United States to Canada for political
reasons. She now works with the War Resisters Support Campaign in
Toronto. She writes the blog
we move to canada.
End of
Article
Petition on Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's statement of intent when in
his time of service to the people of Canada the US war in Vietnam
outraged the worlds moral and ethical citizens
Click to read background article
SUPREME COURT DECISION ON WAR RESISTER APPEAL
SPARKS CANADA WIDE MOBILIZATION
"Those who make a conscientious
judgment that they must not participate in this war... have my complete
sympathy, and indeed our political approach has been to give them access
to Canada. Canada should be a refuge from militarism."
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they
shall be called the sons of God"
1.
Besides military war resisters, there are thousands of
Americans who are ready to leave the United States because of the
terrible direction that things are going in USA. If you are
interested in leaving the USA for Canada, here is a test you can
take to see your chances of getting in legally-
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/cit-test.asp
It’s fun to take the test and see if
you have a realistic chance of immigrating to Canada. It will save
you valuable time and money taking the test to get a clear idea of
your chances.
There are several different ways of
applying to come to Canada: federal skilled worker, Provincial
nominee, self-employed person, etc. Visit the Citizenship and
Immigration Canada website for further information at-
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
Don’t give up hope! It is very possible
to immigrate to Canada, you just have to be willing to jump through
the bureaucratic hurdles and do a great deal of paperwork. Currently
there is an historic peak in U.S. citizens immigrating to Canada.
Ironically, Canadians call this new wave of immigrants from the
united states “Bush refugees”. There are thousands and thousands of
Americans who are moving north to Canada right now.
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