Iranian refugee Amir Kazemian to be allowed to remain in Canada

Permission to stay in Canada has been granted to Amir Kazemian, an Iranian refugee who had been living in sanctuary in St. Michael’s Church, Vancouver, for the past 32 months.

Kazemian had been arrested Saturday night, Feb. 17, by Vancouver police and turned over to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Demonstrators who had gathered in front of the CBSA offices at Library Square in downtown Vancouver on Monday to protest Kazemian’s arrest were soon greeted with the news that an application that he remain in Canada made on humanitarian grounds had been approved in Ottawa.

The news came from the rector of St. Michael’s, the Rev. John Marsh, who had received a cell phone call from inside the CBSA offices from Kazemian’s lawyer, Naomi Minwalla.

A cheer went up from the 100 or so people in the square – which included many members of Anglican parishes that had supported the 41-year-old refugee for nearly three years.

The Ven. Ronald Harrison, executive archdeacon of the diocese, was also at the demonstration representing Bishop Michael Ingham, who had been unable to come due to another engagement but was very concerned about the matter.

Kazemian was not at the offices at

Library Square

but was  released later from detention near the Vancouver airport. He returned to St. Michael's to thank people and gather belongings.

Last month, Kazemian’s lawyer filed new evidence and arguments with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in a renewed attempt to obtain refugee status for him. Only after his arrest and detention was it announced that this second applications was successful.

The arrest came after Kazemian, concerned about a telephone call made to him, called the police about 9 pm Saturday, February 17, and met an officer at the door to the church on East Broadway

According to  Minwalla, Kazemian’s lawyer, the officer told Kazemian that her computer indicated that there was an outstanding immigration arrest warrant for him, and she would have to execute it.

She said that Kazemian told the officer that many police officers had attended the church before and respected his status in sanctuary, but the officer insisted on executing the immigration warrant - although no special request recently had been made by immigration officials.

Marsh, the rector of St. Michael’s, arrived at the church while Kazemian was in handcuffs and being placed in a police vehicle. The Iranian was shortly taken away and subsequently turned over to the CBSA.

The warrant dated to June of 2004 - shortly after Kazemian asked the church to allow him to stay on their premises “in sanctuary.” He feared death if he was returned as ordered to Iran due to his and his family’s political activities there and his acceptance of Christianity.

While in sanctuary, Kazemian has had many visitors, including Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, head of the Anglican Church of Canada, who personally took up his cause with successive federal governments and visited the refugee several times while in Vancouver.

Contacted by Kazemian's lawyer in Tanzania where the Archbishop is attending a meeting of Anglican Primates, the Archbishop said that he deeply regrets the actions of the police and called upon the CBSA to release Mr. Kazemian at once.

Kazemian’s mother's refugee claim had been accepted in Canada, while Kazemian’s was denied, even though both were based on almost the same facts, the lawyer said.

Kazemian’s case, which was based on almost the same facts as his mother’s successful claim, was turned down after one hearing. There was no appeal. The 2001 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act includes a promised Refugee Appeal division, but that portion of the act has yet to be put into effect by the federal government or the Appeal division set up.

Kazemian’s father, who is terminally ill, is being cared for by his sister in the United Kingdom, where he has been allowed to stay. There is no immediate family left in Iran.

While Kazemian was within St. Michael’s when taken into physical custody, the church’s priest, Marsh said the circumstances were different from a raid staged by police in Quebec City at a United Church in 2004 to arrest a refugee from Algeria who had also claimed sanctuary. Generally in Canada, sanctuary has been respected, although it has no status in law.

“The police did nothing illegal,” said Marsh, “but it’s a moral question, not a legal one we’re asking.”