Permanent
Resident Status for All Migrant Workers and Refugees, Now!
Oppose Canada's Role in Exploiting and Abusing Migrant Workers!
- Diane Johnston - 
Canada creates
many
irregular migration programs to satisfy first and foremost the needs of
the biggest exploiters
of labour as well as a few small producers. These programs are the
playground for human
traffickers of every description, including agencies that mercilessly
abuse and mistreat those
workers that do not agree to submit to conditions of living and work
which are unacceptable. Actions are ongoing
across the country for the regularization of the status of all
precarious
migrants as well as to ensure that no undocumented migrant is deported.
In that context, an
action was organized in Montreal on September 23 outside federal
government offices at
Complex Guy-Favreau in Montreal. Organized by Solidarity Across Borders
and the
Immigrant Workers Centre in defence of all undocumented persons,
participants were
informed that 37-year old Mamadou Konaté, originally from
the Ivory Coast, was
apprehended by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on September 16
and has been
detained at Laval's immigration detention centre pending deportation to
his home
country.
Mamadou
Konaté
Accompanied by his lawyer Stewart Istvanffy,
Mamadou, an
undocumented worker, voluntarily presented himself that day to federal
immigration authorities in an effort to
have his removal order suspended until his application for permanent
residency under
humanitarian and compassionate grounds is re-examined. His lawyer wants
to submit new
evidence pertaining to his work in three different residential and
long-term care centres
(CHSLDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The response from immigration officials was to have him
immediately apprehended and
incarcerated at Laval's immigration detention centre.
At the height of the pandemic, Mamadou was hired by a
placement agency to work in
CHSLDs -- COVID-19 "hot zones" -- where he cleaned rooms and corridors
contaminated by
the pandemic. At the end of April, he himself contracted the
coronavirus. Once recovered, he
returned to work in the CHSLDs until being brought to the immigration
holding centre.
In an email to the Huffington Post, CBSA
spokesperson Louis-Carl Brissette Lesage
wrote that "detention must only be considered under exceptional
circumstances, when no
reasonable alternative to detention can be implemented." However,
Mamadou's lawyer insists
that "no exceptional circumstance was mentioned" during his detention
review and that he is
mainly being kept because he is considered a flight risk.
"It seemed like the CBSA agent did not want to hear anything
about COVID-19 or the fact
that he worked [in the CHSLDs] during the pandemic," his lawyer
reported to the media. "It's
really heartbreaking to see humans being treated with so little
consideration," he said.
On September 23 at an Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
(IRB) hearing review,
Mamadou's detention was upheld. At the hearing, a CBSA representative
confirmed that
deportations have restarted, a decision that has not been made public
but is, apparently, the
reason behind Mamadou's continued detention. His next appearance before
an IRB judge is
scheduled for October 19.
In response to an inquiry from Radio Canada International as
to whether or not the removal
of refugee claimants had recommenced after being placed on hold because
of the pandemic,
the CBSA responded that before the establishment of reinforced border
measures back in
March, it had attempted to remove people as soon as possible in
accordance with the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). The
pandemic had resulted in
changes at various levels, but that other measures, such as removals,
were carrying on based
on need, CBSA said.
Since March 15, Radio Canada International points
out, the CBSA has continued to
execute a more limited number and type of removals. It was informed by
CBSA spokesperson
Louis Carl Brissette Lesage that: "The removal of serious cases of
inadmissibility (criminality,
security, international or human rights violations, and organized
crime) continues on a
case-by-case basis, after assessment, as well as the removal of those
wishing to leave Canada
voluntarily despite the current global pandemic. Removal executed at
entry points and through
the normal administrative channels by virtue of section 240(3) of the
IRPR [Immigration and
Refugee Protection Regulations] are also ongoing."
The CBSA also noted that the removal of a person from Canada
"takes place following a
complex series of appeal processes and mechanisms that grant foreign
nationals the right to
due process" and that it is only after all these procedures have been
exhausted that the CBSA
removes a person from Canada.
The federal and Quebec government's temporary special program
conferring status to some
migrant workers is restricted to those who provided direct care to
patients in long-term
care facilities. Those working in COVID-19 infected seniors' residences
preparing food or
cleaning, often working through temp agencies for less than minimum
wage, such as in
the case of Mamadou, are now facing the very real threat of
deportation. Attempts to justify
such treatment shows the unprincipled role the government of Canada
plays in permitting
the abuse of vulnerable workers. 
Mamadou's Story
Mamadou first arrived in Quebec in February 2016 after fleeing
the Ivory Coast,
where he had been imprisoned during a military conflict that followed a
2002 failed coup.
According to court documents, he was "beaten, mistreated, perhaps even
tortured, during his
detention" at the hands of Forces nouvelles, a rebel group, between
2004 and 2005. He had
been involved with the group in 2002-2003. He claims that after he
defected, he was
imprisoned by them and now many of those responsible for the rebellion
are in positions of
influence in the present Ouattara government and Mamadou fears
retaliation.
His asylum claim was denied because of his involvement with
the group. Article 34 (b.1) of
the IRPA, passed under the Chrétien Liberal government in
2001, stipulates that a foreign
national is inadmissible on security grounds if "engaging in an act of
subversion against a
democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in
Canada."
In a 2018 application for judicial review of the decision, his
lawyer argued he was forcibly
recruited by the rebels, which would not make him a "member" in the
eyes of the law.
However, that application was denied.
Two days before his scheduled July 9, 2018 removal, his
request for a stay was heard. A
doctor who had been treating him testified that he suffered from
post-traumatic stress disorder,
anxiety, depression and insomnia, as well as other ailments, and that
he feared he would be
"tortured and killed by the army." The stay was granted.
Since the end of September, Québec Solidaire
Members of
Quebec's National Assembly as well as Alexandre Boulerice, NDP Member
of Parliament for Rosemont--La
Petite-Patrie, have been pressing both Quebec Immigration Minister
Nadine Girault and
federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino
to intervene in the file, but have been
unsuccessful thus far.
"The refugee claimant and removal processes are exclusive
federal government jurisdictions,"
Quebec Minister Girault said. "The issuance of a CSQ [Quebec Selection
Certificate] besides running counter
to [the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration], would have no effect on
the current removal
procedure," she said. Her press secretary Flore Bouchon added that the
Quebec
government is "appreciative of all essential workers who contributed to
the collective effort in
combating the virus." As for Immigration Minister Mendicino, no
response has been
forthcoming.
As of the morning of October 8, more than 37,500 people have
signed an online petition
calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government to annul
Mamadou's deportation
order, regularize his status by providing him with permanent residency
and put a full plan in
place for the regularization of all undocumented persons.
Their demand to Premier Legault and his government is that
everyone working in CHSLDs at
the present time be included in the special regularization program, not
just those working as
orderlies.
It is our social responsibility to protect these workers, who
are used by governments as a
source of cheap labour with no consideration whatsoever for their
lives. Here in
Canada, the lives of many like Mamadou are rendered a living
hell. They work so
that they and their families can survive, and face the denial of rights
and the threat of
removal.
It must not pass! No one is illegal! Permanent residency
status for all now! It's a matter of
human dignity for all!
To sign on to the petition click
here.
A fundraiser for Mamadou has been organized by Solidarity for
Mamadou Konaté on the
website Go Fund Me. To date, over $11,000 has been collected. To
contribute, click
here.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 38 - October 10, 2020
Article Link:
Permanent
Resident Status for All Migrant Workers and Refugees, Now!: Oppose Canada's Role in Exploiting and Abusing Migrant Workers! - Diane Johnston
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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