Stop the deportation of Alvaro Orozco!!!

To:  Canadian Ministers of Parliament (especially immigration minister Diane Finley)

“Stop the Deportation of Alvaro Orozco”
http://www.orangehabitat.com/oh/alvaro/

6 months after community action and national media coverage resulted in the deferral of Alvaro Orozco’s deportation order – Alvaro received today, August 29th, 2007, a completely shocking negative response to his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, which means that his deportation is now imminent. His last resort is for the Minister of Immigration, Diane Finley, to intervene.

NDP Member of Parliament Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina), as well as many other prominent supporters, have already called for the minister of immigration to allow Alvaro to stay in Canada.

Alvaro and his supporters, including the Toronto Youth Cabinet and Supporting Our Youth, believe it is very evident now that if sent back to his native Nicaragua, Mr. Orozco would face persecution and an even higher risk to his life than ever before, especially since his story became public and was picked up by the biggest newspapers in Nicaragua.

After fleeing severe family abuse in Nicaragua, 21 year old, Alvaro Orozco, spent 9 years of his life running for safety and security in a long journey across Central and North America that forced him to swim across rivers to cross borders, serve many months in US detention centres and live off the charity of good people he met along the way. Now Alvaro is facing deportation to the United States, where he will be arrested and sent back to Nicaragua where he will be jailed simply for the “crime” of being gay.
A Canadian judge, who conducted Alvaro’s hearing over a television screen from Calgary, denied Alvaro refugee protection in Canada as a vulnerable person at risk, simply on the basis that he did not look “gay enough” for her, and because she did not believe that such a young man managed to live through so many traumatic ordeals.

“Alvaro is an amazingly bright, sensitive, generous, intuitive and spiritual young man who hasn't seen a happy day in many years, “says Support our Youth’s Suhail Abualsameed, “but he keeps strong faith in a better future and is always showing appreciation for the small gestures of goodness that he receives from those few who've been good to him.”

“Alvaro has paid the high cost for freedom through his struggles to make a positive new life for himself in Canada. Now his dreams of a fresh start are being denied for no fault or crime of his own, but merely because he dared to see a better life for himself in Canada” states Gabi Rodriguez, Director of Council Relations for the Toronto Youth Cabinet.

The Toronto Youth Cabinet is the official voice of Toronto’s 300,000 youth since 1998.

For more information, please contact:
Ryan Hayes, Toronto Youth Cabinet - 416-655-0161
El-Farouk Khaki, lawyer – 416 925 7227
Suhail Abualsameed, Supporting our Youth – 416 924 077


Edward Lee`s statement:

I will always remember the Youth Roundtable that we held at the 2007 North American OutRights Conference... there were 40 youth leaders (and those involved with youth issues), and Alvaro, with his limited english and shy demeanor, began to speak about his experiences. He spoke about his experience as a refugee, as someone who left home at the age of 12 because of abusive parents. As he spoke about this abuse, he broke down, and wept. After a few minutes, he regained himself, and he continued his story of escaping Nicaragua, then being lost in the US and then coming to Canada, where he finally began to feel a sense of hope of being able to live in a country where it wasn`t illegal to be gay (it`s illegal to be gay in Nicaragua). It was one of the most powerful moments I have ever been a part of, and even though I was facilitating, I couldn`t help but cry with Alvaro.

And now, Alvaro`s request for refuge in Canada was DENIED and he has been asked to be deported...I cannot believe this... because of CALGARY, Deborah Lamont, IRB adjudicator who said that he didn`t `look` gay enough and concluded that he wasn't gay and fabricated his story.

I can`t tell you how sad and upset this makes me. I only knew Alvaro for a week, but I saw someone who was so vulnerable, who had so many incredibly challenging life experiences, and yes, even with these hardships, he is someone who is so kind, so extremely open to others and to living life in this country. And for certain, Alvaro is gay. Please e-mail or write Diane Finley, the conservative minister for immigration... something needs to be done, and signing this petition is just the first step!

We can not sit by and do nothing while someone who justifiably needs refuge in Canada is deported to a country where he will surely meet severe abuse or possible jail time or even death.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Stop the deportation of Alvaro Orozco!!! Petition to Canadian Ministers of Parliament (especially immigration minister Diane Finley) was created by and written by Edward Lee (ewjlee@yahoo.ca).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

share:   blogger     del.icio.us     digg     facebook     furl     reddit     slashdot     send to a friend

Send Petition to a Friend - Petition FAQ - Start a Petition - Contributions - Privacy - Media Kit - Comments and Suggestions