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Priest won't wash hands of drama
Nabih Ayoub (far
left) and his brother Khalil (back row, third from left) seen here with their
family in 1948, were driven out of their village of Al Basa and sent to a UN
refugee camp in Lebanon. CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE AYOUB FAMILY
Priest won't wash hands of drama
Shunted about since 1948, trio say 'We have no house, no country, no passports.
We just want a place to live'
Monday February 16, 2004
ALAN HUSTAK
The Gazette
Three
rootless Palestinian refugees who were ordered deported from Canada Feb. 3
because they entered the country illegally have been given sanctuary in a Roman
Catholic Church in Notre Dame de Grâce.
One of
them, Khalil Ayoub, 67, is sleeping in the memorial crypt of Montreal's first
mayor, Jacques Viger, who died in 1858. The chamber is in the basement of Notre
Dame de Grâce Church.
Khalil's brother, Nabih Ayoub, 69, and Nabih's wife, Therese Boulos Haddad, 62,
are sharing a bed in a spacious, well-lit, basement library. Ironically, pinned
to a wall in the room is a huge map of the Holy Land, which once was their
homeland.
The
three, all Greek Melkite Catholics, say they have been shunted from pillar to
post since their country disappeared in 1948, when Israel was created.
"We
have no house, no country, no passports," Khalil said yesterday. "We just want a
place to live. We like Canada, we like Quebec. We have been treated well here.
We just want to stay."
The
three have been living in the church since Feb. 2.
Their
ordeal began four years ago when they obtained visas in Lebanon to travel to the
United States.
On
April 19, 2001, they crossed into Canada at Lacolle, where they applied for
landed refugee status. Their claim was subsequently refused by the Immigration
and Refugee Board. This year, on Jan. 8, they were informed they would have to
leave Canada by Feb. 3.
They
asked for help, and with the support of the parish council were given asylum in
the church.
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"We
can't just wash our hands of this human drama," the parish priest, Claude Caron,
said yesterday. "For 55 years, these people have known only war, deportation,
life in refugee camps and persecution. This is really their last chance to find
a place they can call home where they can live in dignity and peace.
"We're
asking the Canadian government to give them permanent landed immigrant status on
humanitarian grounds."
At a
news conference at the church yesterday afternoon, eight members of the
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees called on the minister
of citizenship and immigration, Judy Sgro, and the minister of public safety,
Anne McLellan, to use their discretionary powers to allow the three to remain in
Canada.
Among
the coalition members are Louise Harel, a former minister in the Parti Québécois
government; Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, MP for Laval Centre and immigration
spokesperson for the Bloc Québécois; and Senator Pierre de Bané, the first
Canadian with an Arab background to be elected to Parliament.
Marlene Jennings, Liberal member of Parliament for Notre Dame de Grâce-Lachine,
also supports the appeal.
In a
letter to Sabine Venturelli, the immigration lawyer representing the three
Palestinians, Jennings states they should be allowed to remain in Canada because
of their ages, because they have been stateless since 1948, and because if
deported, they will, in all likelihood, be returned to a refugee camp near
Beirut that is expected to close soon.
There
are concerns that if the Ayoubs are sent back to the United States, they won't
be accepted as refugees and will, in turn, be shipped back to a refugee camp in
Lebanon.
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Their
Predicament
1930s:
Nabih Ayoub and his brother, Khalil, are born in Al Basa, a village near Haifa,
which was then in British-occupied Palestine.
1948:
During the fight for Israeli independence, the brothers are driven out of their
village and sent to a UN refugee camp in Dbayeh, Lebanon.
They
lose their home and their livelihood, and work when they can as labourers; Nabih
marries.
No
longer Palestinians and not Lebanese, they have no passports.
1975:
The refugee camp becomes a battleground in the fight between the Lebanese army
and Christian Phalangist militia.
The
brothers move to a refugee camp at Naima, near Beirut.
1982:
Israel, with the support of Christian allies, invades Lebanon. An estimated
2,000 Muslim Palestinians are massacred at Sabra and Shatila.
As
Christians living in a Muslim country, the Ayoubs say they are compromised.
1985:
Civil war in Beirut. They seek safety in another refugee camp, Saida.
1989:
They are moved to another refugee camp nearby, Ein El Hilweh.
2000:
Israel withdraws from Lebanon. It refuses to accept responsibility for the
refugees in Ein El Hilweh and will not allow the Ayoubs into Israel.
The
Ayoubs obtain an exit visa to go to the United States.
2001:
They arrive at Lacolle, where they ask for refugee status in Canada.
2003:
Their application is turned down. In a last-ditch attempt to have them stay,
their lawyer petitions Citizenship and Immigration Canada, declaring the Ayoubs
pose no threat. The application is refused.
2004:
On Jan. 8, they are told to report for their deportation orders on Feb. 3. In
mid-January, they seek asylum in Notre Dame de Grâce Church.
The
parish council agrees to their request for asylum, and on Feb. 2, the Ayoubs
move in.
ahustak@thegazette.canwest.com
© Copyright 2004 Montreal Gazette
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