Iranian Immigration

[Rasputin]

Lawyers seek judicial review for Iranian overstayer


Lawyers for an Iranian overstayer who has spent more than two years in Mt Eden Prison are arguing for a judicial review of the case.

A hearing is underway at the High Court in Auckland for Thomas Yadegary, who is being held in custody after refusing to sign passport documents that would force his return home.

He claims he will not be safe in Iran, but the Immigration Service disagrees.

His lawyer, David Ryken, says there is no evidence that diplomatic talks between the Iranian and New Zealand governments will resolve the situation. However, the Crown says those efforts are progressing.

[Rasputin]

SAN FRANCISCO Court protects Iranian, cites torture threat

An Iranian who supported an anti-government group classified by the United States as a terrorist organization can't be deported to Iran because he would probably be tortured or executed there, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Thursday.

The decision by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows Masoud Hosseini to remain in the United States and apply for annual work permits, though he is ineligible for legal residency and citizenship. He was released about two months ago after being in federal custody since his arrest in Los Angeles in October 2002.

The court overturned rulings by immigration judges, who had agreed with U.S. immigration officials that Hosseini should be deported and who had rejected his claims that he would be a target of torture or persecution because of his support for the Mujahedin-e Khalq.

That Marxist-Islamist organization was originally formed to oppose the U.S.-backed shah of Iran in the 1960s but has clashed violently with the fundamentalist government that deposed the shah in 1979. Though some U.S. politicians have supported the group, it was declared a terrorist organization by the State Department in 1997.

Hosseini, now 36, entered the United States on a student visa in 1995, quickly applied for asylum with statements he later admitted were false, and was eventually detained and ordered deported in 2002. U.S. officials described him as a danger to national security because of his connections with the Mujahedin-e Khalq.

A finding that he is more likely than not to be tortured in Iran is enough to protect him from deportation, said Judge William Canby in the 3-0 ruling.

[Rasputin]

Iranian in 31st month living in city church

Amir Kazemian is about to spend another Christmas at St. Michael's Anglian Church on East Broadway, where the 41-year-old Iranian asylum-seeker has been confined for two years and seven months.

If he steps outside the church grounds, he could be arrested for avoiding a 2004 deportation order.

"I just think about the present because I live in the present," he said Friday. "If I am happy, I'm happy. If I'm sad, I'm sad. . . . When you don't have any chance, what can you do?"

Kazemian said his only choice is to wait and pray. His one wish for Christmas is to see his ailing father, a former opposition politician in Iran living in England. "I pray for my father and for God to give him more strength and live a longer life and I will see him one more time," he said.

If he is sent back to Iran, Kazemian said, he will be killed. "I was outspoken and an activist. . . . I don't have any chance to survive."

Christmas cards and baked goods from friends are scattered around his room at the back of the church, where Kazemian spends most of his days.

He is among a handful of asylum-seekers taking sanctuary in churches across Canada and he believes he is setting a record. "There's nobody longer than me in sanctuary in Canada," he said.

In Winnipeg, Hassan Raza and his young family have been living at the Crescent Fort Rouge United Church since August, fearing arrest and deportation to Pakistan. Two of Raza's six children, age one to 13, were born in Canada, and two in the U.S.

Collectively, asylum-seekers such as Kazemian and Raza's families make up a tiny portion of the more than 20,000 individuals awaiting refugee status.

The issue of church sanctuary has drawn attention on Parliament Hill. It highlights problems with Canada's refugee determination system, while reviving ethical and legal questions about the boundary between church and state.

In November, representatives from five church denominations appeared before the House of Commons standing committee on citizenship and immigration to explain their reasons for offering sanctuary and plead for changes to the system.

Some churches, such as the Presbyterian Church in Canada, have an official policy of providing sanctuary to rejected refugee claimants who risk persecution or torture if returned to their home country.

Churches cite the centuries-old Christian tradition of offering food and shelter to those in need.

"The church has always had an uneasy role with government. On one hand, we try to live within the law and support the laws of the land," said Barb Janes, a minister at the church housing the Razas. "On the other hand, we're also called to be kind of the conscience of the nation and raise questions when we feel things are unjust."

Some church officials said their congregations should be a refuge of last resort, and they can face fines of $50,000 and up to two years in jail for impeding the deportation process.

Church officials said they wouldn't have to get involved if the refugee-vetting process were truly fair and transparent. At the top of their wish list is a refugee appeals division that would reconsider decisions made by the Immigration and Refugee Board. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, passed in 2002, contains provisions for such an appeals process, but the former Liberal government shelved the idea. The Conservatives have given little indication they will implement it.

[Rasputin]

In spite of the belligerent declarations of Iran's leaders - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his mantra this week that he expects the Zionist entity to collapse in the near future - Iranian representatives are holding negotiations with Israeli representatives. These are not only indirect negotiations, but real meetings. These meetings have been going on for about two decades, and concern laborious international arbitration regarding the debts between the two nations.

There are three separate litigations, which are taking place simultaneously in several European countries, all of them pertaining to a complex legal and business entity called Trans-Asiatic Oil Limited, and relating to one of the biggest secrets between Israel and Iran: the past oil connections between the two countries. Three years ago one of the arbitrations ruled that Israeli fuel companies have to pay the Iranian National Oil Company tens of millions of dollars. All the parties made efforts to maintain the secrecy of the decision and every other detail connected to the subject.

From the time that Iran de facto recognized Israel in 1951, increasingly close relations developed between the two countries, until the 1970s when they reached a point of strategic partnership. This partnership had four main components: Iranian assistance for the immigration operations for Jews from Iraq; Israeli-Iranian cooperation in the area of intelligence (the Mossad, the Shin Bet security services and the Israel Defense Forces helped to establish, train and operate the Iranian army and the units of Sawak - the Iranian security service. In exchange, Israel's intelligence organizations received Iranian assistance in gathering information and operating agents in Iraq to assist the Kurdish revolt); agreements for military cooperation; and the supply of Iranian oil to Israel.

Beginning in 1975, the military cooperation focused on an Iranian investment of $1.2 billion in several research and development initiatives of Israeli armaments. These initiatives, whose code name was Tzur, included the establishment of a Soltam munitions plant in Iran, the development of the Lavi fighter plane, the development of a sea-to-sea missile based on Gabriel technology, and according to foreign sources, the development of an upgraded ground-to-ground missile, whose range at the time was about 600 kilometers. By the time Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, ending the cooperation, Israel had managed to transfer the plans for the missile to Iran.

The supplying of Iranian oil to Israel began already in the early 1950s. The oil was transferred in tankers to Eilat, and from there was channeled to Be'er Sheva in a pipeline with a diameter of about 40 centimeters. The pipeline and its installation were funded by the Rothschild family, who were its owners. After the 1967 Six-Day War and the closing of the Suez Canal, Israel (whose prime minister at the time was Levi Eshkol) convinced the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, to exploit the new situation and set up a joint and expanded oil initiative. The Shah agreed to the idea.

Thus Trans-Asiatic Oil was established, a company under joint ownership of the Israeli government, through the Finance Ministry, and the Iranian National Oil Company. The Israeli government gave the company an exclusive franchise to transport and store the oil. The main fear of Iranian opponents of the initiative was that if the cooperation were to be exposed, the Arab countries would use it to criticize Tehran. Therefore, in order to maintain secrecy, the company was registered in Panama. The owners of Trans-Asiatic, as they appear in the Israeli Registrar of Companies, are the Eilat Corporation and another company, both of which are also registered in Panama.

In Israel, Trans-Asiatic operated as though it were a foreign company. It acquired the pipeline to Be'er Sheva from the Rothschild family and laid a larger pipeline, with a diameter of about one meter (42 inches), alongside it, from Eilat to Ashkelon, where they also built terminals for loading and unloading the oil. The construction of the terminals was completed in 1969. The closing of the Suez Canal made it difficult to supply oil to Europe from the Persian Gulf. The tankers were forced to sail on a long route around the Cape of Good Hope. The idea behind the establishment of the company was to shorten the sailing routes and the supply time, and thus of course earn more money. The tankers loaded oil in the ports of Iran, sailed to Eilat, where they unloaded the cargo at a special terminal that was built for that purpose, and the oil transported in the pipeline to Ashkelon. Most of it was loaded onto tankers bound for Europe, and a small percentage was used for Israel's energy economy. The Iranian National Oil Company sold the oil to Trans-Asiatic below the market price, and granted it credit for three months.

[Rasputin]

Immigration bureau lets Iranian family stay till Feb. 16

The Tokyo Immigration Bureau on Friday gave an Iranian family whose plea for special residency permission was turned down last month temporary permission to stay in the country until mid-February.

Amineh Khalil, 43, of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, appeared at the bureau with his wife and one of their daughters on the day, when their monthlong temporary permission to stay expired.

He did not have the passports of all his family members, nor air tickets for all of them, though he had been asked to bring them with him, so the bureau decided to let the family stay in Japan until Feb. 16.

Khalil turned himself in along with his wife, Farokhi Akram, 39, and their eldest daughter, Maryam, 18, a third-year high school student. The other daughter, Shahrzad, 10, a fourth-year primary school student, remained in Takasaki.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

[golesang]

I don't know enough about other countries' attitudes towards Iranian immigrants or immigrants in general to have a well-founded opinion, but I think the UK is one of the worst right now. In the US it depends a lot on where you are...many people here have automatic prejudices against anyone Middle Eastern, but it isn't true everywhere. California, where I live, is very good in many ways (just not to Mexicans!)

[Rasputin]

يكي از بينندگان «بازتاب» كه يازده سال در زندان انفرادي «كوروبانه» ژاپن زنداني بوده است، در پيامي به اين سايت نوشت كه وي در زندان «ژانون»ريال مورد اذيت و آزار زندانيان ژاپني قرار گرفته و فكش شكسته است

بهروز لطفي*نسب مي*گويد: من قهرمان كشتي پهلواني كشور بوده*ام. در ژاپن آنان من را به دليل اقامت غيرقانوني، مي*توانسته*اند به مدت ده روز در زندان بدون انجام دادگاه بازداشت كنند اما آنان در خانه*اي كه متعلق به من نبود، مقداري مواد مخدر پيدا كرده به همين بهانه من را پنج سال بدون محاكمه در زندان ژاپن زنداني كردند.

در آن زمان، روزنامه «يوموري» ژاپن از قول ياكوزاي ژاپن (مافياي ژاپن) مي**نويسد كه من با آنان به دليل مسائل مالي درگير و اضافه مي*كند كه قهرمان كشتي پهلواني ايران به خاطر همراه داشتن مواد مخدر در زندان است.

به اين ترتيب، من كه حدود يازده سال در زندان انفرادي ژاپن بودم، مكاتباتي با سفارت جمهوري اسلامي ايران در توكيو داشته و شرايط خود را براي آنان بازگو كردم، اما در محاكمات، آنان من را از داشتن وكيل انتخابي ـ به دليل بي*پولي ـ منع كرده و به اين ترتيب، وكيل تسخيري در دادگاه ژاپن از من دفاع مي*كرد.

براي همين من از دادگاه فرجامخواهي ژاپن و ديوان عدالت اين كشور، تقاضا كردم كه هيچ كدام به درخواست من پاسخ مثبت نداده*اند، حال آن*كه من در زندان تحت شكنجه بودم و كسي به من در اين زمينه كمكي نكرد.

حال مي*خواهم با حمايت دولت، به حقوق پايمال شده*ام در سيستم قضائي ژاپن، كه يازده سال من را از زندگي عادي محروم كرده است، شكايت كنم و براي اين كار، مدارك و اسناد خود را به سفارت ژاپن در تهران برده*ام، اما متأسفانه اين سفارت با پيگيري اسناد مخالفت كرده است.

[Rasputin]

شاید بتوان گفت، کانادا به عنوان یک کشور چند فرهنگی، نظام آموزشی منحصر به خود را دارد، یعنی به همان اندازه که پذیرای مهاجران خارجی است، آماده جذب دانشجوی بین*المللی بوده و همین شاید زندگی دانشجویی را هم کسانی که از نقاط مختلف دنیا می*آیند، قدری متفاوت می*سازد.


آموزش عالی درکانادا عمدتا به دو بخش دانشگاهی و کالج خلاصه می*شود. دانشجویان هر دو بخش*، یا مقیم محسوب می*شوند، یا دانشجوی بین*المللی. دانشجویان بین*المللی خود گروه*های مختلفی دارند.
آنهایی که از بورس تحصیلی استفاده می*کنند، کسانی که کمک هزینه تحصیلی می*گیرند و آنهایی که با هزینه شخصی درس می خوانند. آن چیزی که دانشجوی مقیم را از دانشجوی خارجی متفاوت می*کند، در مجموع حقوق یا امتیازهایی است که دسته اول از آن برخوردار و گروه دوم یعنی دانشجویان خارجی از آن محروم هستند.
در گزارش قبل گفتیم که کانادا در حال حاضر میزبان تعداد زیادی دانشجوی ایرانی است که با ویزای تحصیلی و صرف هزینه*ای چند برابر شهروندان کانادایی به این کشور آمده٬ زندگی کانادایی را تجربه می*کنند.
برای بررسی خوبی*ها و بدی*های تحصیل در کانادا پای صحبت چند دانشجوی ایرانی نشتیم.
کمال دانشجوی علوم کامپیوتر دانشگاه رایرسون از روزهای اول زندگی در کانادا می*گوید و این*که بزرگترین مشکل تحصیل در کانادا مخارج بالاست.
مهرداد آریان*نژاد نا آشنایی با محیط و فرهنگ جدید را مساله مهم بسیاری از دانشجویان می*داند و ...
در حال حاضر حدود ۱۵ انجمن دانشجویی ایرانی در دانشگاههای کانادایی فعال هستند که به نظر مهرداد می*توانند در حل مشکلات دانشجویان ایرانی موثر باشند.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Canada on Monday unexpectedly granted permanent resident status to an Iranian man who spent nearly three years in sanctuary in a Vancouver church before being arrested over the weekend.

The Canada Border Services Agency released Amir Kazemian from custody after Citizenship and Immigration officials granted him residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

The surprise ruling came after the arrest Saturday of the 41-year-old man by Vancouver police at St. Michael's Anglican Church.

Kazemian, who claimed he had been tortured in Iran, had been living in the church since June 2004 when he sought sanctuary from a deportation order.

He was taken into police custody Saturday after officers discovered his outstanding deportation order while they were responding to his call for police help about harassing phone calls.

"We have decision-makers that look at all the facts presented and make a decision. And in this case they decided favorably," said Lois Reimer, a spokeswoman for Citizen and Immigration.

Kazemian arrived in Canada in 1998 after leaving his parents in Iran. His mother eventually was accepted as a political refugee, but he was not.

His lawyer's office said Kazemian still must pass a series of checks before being granted full residency status, but he no longer needs to hide in the church while Immigration officials process his application. Those checks typically involve medical and security issues.

[Rasputin]

مقامات اداره مهاجرت کانادا سرانجام به يک پناهنده ايرانی هواداردمکراسی که سه سال است برای اجتناب از تبعيد خود درکليسائی درشهر ونکوور زندگی می کند، اجازه پناهندگی دادند.

اميرکاظميان روزدوشنبه هنگامی که برای تشکر ازهواداران خود از سلول خويش درفرودگاه ونکوور بيرون می آمد، اشک درچشمانش جمع شده بود.

پليس کاظميان را روزشنبه طبق يک دستوراخراج معوقه ازکانادا بازداشت کرد، اما مقامات اداره مهاجرت با لغو اتهامات وارده به کاظميان، به وی اجازه اقامت دائم درکانادا را دادند.

کاظميان چند سال پيش به ونکوور گريخت وادعا کرد به علت حمايت ازدمکراسی، درتهران مورد شکنجه قرارگرفته است.

کاظميان درسال ۲۰۰۴ پس ازآن که مقامات اداره مهاجرت کانادا درخواست پناهندگی اورا رد کردند، به کليسائی پناه آورد.

کاظميان گفت ازاسلام به مسيحيت گرويده است. وکيل مدافع وی اظهارداشت کاظميان در صورت بازگشت به ايران، با خطربه مراتب بزرگتری مواجه خواهد بود.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

US refusal to issue visa to Iranian delegation scheduled to attend the 51st conference of the UN Commission on Status of Women in New York was an affront to Iranian women, chairperson of the Center for the Women and Family Affairs Zohreh Tayebzadeh Nouri said on Sunday.

She told reporters that the visa refusal of the US Administration indicated that the White House officials are afraid of Iranian women delivering speeches at the conference. She said that the US officials are fearful of progressive thought of Iranian women and their refusal to grant visa betrays such a fear.

She said that a group of nine women including three reporters and three researchers and three students had applied for visa with the US consulate in Switzerland, but, their applications were turned down.

Mrs. Touba Kermani who led Iranian delegation to Switzerland to get US visa said that the US violated its commitments to host the United Nations headquarters and despite its undertakings to issue visa to citizens of the member states, it created nuisance for the member states participation in the UN conferences.