by
Solidarity Across Borders
Solidarity Across Borders denounces the imminent
decision by the Canadian authorities to procede with the deportation of
Paola Ortiz and her two Canadian children of two and four years old.
Paola Ortiz arrived in Montreal five years ago after fleeing a
situation of sexual and conjugal violence in Mexico, her country or
origin. There she was a victim of violent physical, sexual, and
psychological abuse by her then-husband, a federal police officer. She
has been diagnosed by various specialists with post-traumatic stress and
depression. Mrs. Ortiz's children also have health challenges. Her
daughter of four years suffers from significant hearing problems, while
her son of two years has recently been diagnosed with autism. Both
children are receiving treatment and support from various specialists.
In 2006 upon her arrival in Canada, Paola Ortiz requested refugee
status from Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board refused her
application one year later, under the pretext that the Mexican state
provided adequate protection to women survivors of conjugal violence.
However, many sources from the field uncover the situation of violence
for women in Mexico, and the almost absolute impunity accorded to its
perpetrators.
During the summer of 2011, Ms. Ortiz was detained for one week at
the Immigration Detention Centre in Laval, being consequently separated
from her children. She is presently in limbo, awaiting a deportation
date that could be issued and executed as early as this week. Her lawyer
has submitted a request for a stay of her deportation, in her interests
and those of her children.
« By constantly threatening Paola and her family with deportation,
the Canadian government is acting as an accomplice to the sexist
violence that Paola has endured », explains Rosalind Wong, a member of
the Solidarity Across Borders network that is supporting Ms. Ortiz.
« Moreover, the government is ignoring not only its human rights
obligations and its obligations towards refugees, but also its
responsibilities towards children born on Canadian territory, children
who have the right to live in conditions that are fair, safe, and with
dignity. This means to remain in Canada, the country of their birth,
with their mother. »
For the other members of Solidarity Across Borders working with Ms.
Ortiz, there is no question that Ms. Ortiz and her children will not
receive the specialized services that they need should they be deported
to Mexico.
« The treatment of Ms. Ortiz in recent weeks displays a worrying
tendency on the part of Canada's immigration system, » adds Rosalind
Wong. « Mainly, a flat-out denial of the situation of violence and its
impunity in countries like Mexico, and the increasing use of repressive
tools like detention and precipated deportation, deliberately
overlooking any consideration of the rights of the children or the
psychological precarity of women who have experienced trauma and
violence.»
In 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney imposed a mandatory visa
on all visitors from Mexico, alleging that too many requests for asylum
seekers originating from Mexico were false. This gesture is one of
several measures recently put into place by the Canadian government that
refugee advocates have decried as simply dividing and criminalizing
immigrant and refugee communities, in an aim to restrict their access to
Canadian territory.
Solidarity Across Borders joins Ms. Ortiz, her family, and many
friends and community members of Montreal and Point St. Charles
neighborhood, to demand that Ms. Ortiz be given permanent status in
Canada.
Soldarity Across Borders is a network of support and
struggle for the dignity and justice of migrants without status. Its
principal demands are the end of deportations and detentions, the
regularization of all non-status people and the abolition of the double
punishment.
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For more information :
Stewart Istvanffy, legal representative of Paola Ortiz — 514-876-9776
Rosalind Wong, Solidarity Across Borders — 514-759-8346
