The Deportation of Queen Nzinga
north america / mexico |
migration / racism |
news report
Friday July 01, 2005 23:57 by Wesley Morgan - NEFAC
This May Immigration Canada passed down their decision to reject Wendy Maxwell Edwards' (AKA Queen Nzinga) application for permanent residence on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds. Our fine sister Nzinga was deported in March, while her application was still pending
Stop Deportations
This May Immigration Canada passed down their decision to reject
Wendy Maxwell Edwards' (AKA Queen Nzinga) application for permanent
residence on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds. Our fine sister
Nzinga was deported in March, while her application was still
pending. It is nothing new that arbitrary bad faith, absurdity, and
repression accompany the regulation of the movement of people by
states, particularly at borders. Toronto Police snatched her during
events for International Women's Day at Ryerson University, before
deporting her nine days later. Nzinga's case gives us insight into
some of the particularities of the on-going struggles for free
movement, in her own words, "I knew it could happen but I never
thought it would have happened on International Women's Day. It
happening on this day made my arrest a very special event. However
tortuous, it brought to the forefront the situation of non-status
people in Canada."
Canada's practice of deporting people whose applications are still
pending has many critics. The UN Committee Against Torture has
highlighted the highly political nature of decisions rendered in
these cases, as has Nzinga, who writes that her experience, "leads me
to believe that the decisions made at Canada Immigration level are
anything but humanitarian. They are based on politics and economics".
Her case also brings attention to the need for a Don't Ask, Don't
Tell (DADT) policy. Nzinga herself was sexually assaulted in 2001 by
a security officer. When she reported this assault to the police, a
train of events was started that almost saw her deported, as she
warns us, "Women with nonstatus cannot report sexual harassment at
work, spousal abuse or even rape if the result is being punished by
deportation."
In Nzinga's case, it is clear that the struggle continues. She is
asking for our support, with donations and other direct solidarity
with her Torontobased committee. As she remembers from Yoruba
proverb: If the fence does not have props it will collapse. "
Wendy Maxwell Support Committee:
c/o the York Women's Centre - York University,
4700 Keele St., Student Centre Room 322,
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3 Canada
To contact Nzinga directly....
Wendy Maxwell Edwards
P.O. Box 13976-1000
San José, Costa Rica, Central America
email: warrior_queen_nzinga@yahoo.ca
www.supportwendy.com
From
Strike! Volume 1,
Issue#1 July 2005 (Ontario Edition)
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