Call for Support and Solidarity with Guinean Refugees in Montreal

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Dear friends and Allies.

We are writing to you in our capacity as members of the Guinean Committee in Support of Status for All. We would like to draw your attention to the situation of some of the Guinean members of our committee who are living very precarious lives here in Montreal. Several of them have lived in Montreal for many years. They work, have a vibrant social network, and contribute in significant ways to their communities and to the larger social fabric of the city. Yet despite the positive contributions they bring to Montreal, they do not have official status or permanent residency here and many are at various legal stages of seeking refuge, asylum and a home in the city.

Although the Canadian government deems Guinea a safe country to return to, members of the committee will be in grave danger if they are forced to return to their home country. Some used to be active members of the opposition and were forced to flee the country, while others have been threatened by their own families. In addition, Human Rights Watch has documented serious human rights violations and abuses perpetrated by security forces and mobs affiliated with both the ruling party and opposition groups. Guinea is also grappling with a high unemployment rate, organized crime and regional insecurity.

According to a recent report in Reuters “Despite decades of mineral extraction, Guinea, Africa’s top bauxite producer, remains one of the world’s least developed countries, a major gripe of young Guineans who want to see tangible benefits from mining revenues.” This was a report after security forces in Guinea violently repressed demonstrations this past september demanding employment, and services and wealth be distributed from such mineral extraction fairly.   Its underdevelopment, poverty, and militarization has its long connections to corporate interests in Canada. In 2015 Canada signed a Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement enabling  Canadian corporations to continue to profit from Guinea while its population remains impoverished.

Despite the apparent democratic dispensation, the people and structures that brutally enforced the previous decades of dictatorship are still in place and enjoying impunity as they continue with their old practices. Should the refugee claimants be deported back in these circumstances they are a group at risk of reprisal by these structures.

Over the course of their many years in Canada, these Guineans today being threatened by deportations have built profound links with the communities where they live. Guineans United for Status for All has brought together members of the Quebecois Guinean community in Montreal for five to six years. They work, have social networks and actively take part in the life of their community, but now they are facing threats of losing all they have created here.

We are asking the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to grant permanent status for all Guinean refugees in Canada, and to end deportations to Guinea.