Comrade Marcel
7th February 2007, 21:56
Hello to all...
We need your support... Please read the email below and do your best
to come to
the Media Event this coming Thursday. Please distribute this email to all your
networks.
Thank you...
Hola a todos...
Necesitamos su apoyo... Por favor lean este email y traten de asistir
al evento
este Jueves, asi como pasar este correo a todos sus amigos y amigas.
Gracias...
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE WIDELY
Good morning friends and supporters,
Alvaro Orozco who is facing an un-just
deportation order that is scheduled to
take effect on Feb 13th. This a dramatic
story of a young man, living in Toronto
for the past 2 years, and has been
unfairly treated by the system and
faces a very grim future if we don'€™t
succeed in helping him.
Alavaro’s full story and all the contact info
and ways you can help can be
found at: www.orangehabitat.com/alvaro
Here is the brief:
Alvaro's situation is quite desperate.
This young man has been running for
safety and security for the last 9 years,
in a very long journey across central
and North America escaping sever family
abuse in Nicaragua that started when he
was only 12 years old. He swam across
rivers to cross borders, spent many
months in detention in the US and lived
off the charity of good people he met
on his way, until he was refused refugee
protection in Canada because the judge
(who conducted the hearing over a TV screen
from Calgary) didn'€™t think he looked gay
enough for her and didn’t think it
makes sense that a young boy managed to
live such a dramatic story and survive
(I guess in her Calgary suburb she doesn'€™t
see much of what really happens in the world)...
Alvaro, is facing deportation in 9 days to
the US who will arrest him and then in turn
send him after weeks in detention to Nicaragua
(where there are still sodomy laws in effect
and people do go to prison for being gay) for
absolutely no fault or a crime, but for being
the victim of abuse and injustice all his life.
This amazingly bright, sensitive, generous,
intuitive and spiritual young man hasn'€™t seen
a happy day in many years, but he keeps strong
faith in a better future and is always showing
appreciation for the small gestures of goodness
that he receives from those few who've been good
to him.
We have a media event planned for this coming
Thursday at 2:00 pm we need as many people as
possible to come out to the event.We also need
people to contact the Minister of Immigration
and ask her to order the Stay.
Alavaro’s full story and all the contact info
and ways you can help can be
found at: www.orangehabitat. com/alvaro
What: €ťHigh Cost For Freedom
When: Thursday, February 8, 2-3 pm
Where: 519 Community Centre (Church
and Wellesley), auditorium
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, PLEASE ACT FAST, ACT NOW
Thanks for reading through this and for your support.
Have a great day.
Suhail Abualsameed
__________________________________________________ __________________
Globe and Mail
Can't prove he's gay, teen is denied asylum
Nicaraguan fears his return home as board member unconvinced over sexuality
MARINA JIMÉNEZ
February 7, 2007
Alvaro Antonio Orozco, a gay teen runaway from Nicaragua, was denied
asylum in Canada because the Immigration and Refugee Board didn't
believe he was a homosexual.
Mr. Orozco, now 21, is slated for removal next Tuesday to a country
where sodomy is illegal and to a family that he says beat him and
taunted him for his sexual orientation ever since he was a young boy.
'My father called me 'marica' [a derogatory word for gay], and told me
he would beat it out of me,' Mr. Orozco said. 'But it's impossible to
prove you are gay.'
Soft-spoken with delicate features, wearing a pink-checked shirt, Mr.
Orozco certainly looks the part, and says that from a young age he
felt and behaved differently. He was drawn to artistic pursuits and
often played indoors as a child, and today aspires to be a nurse.
But Deborah Lamont, the IRB member who heard his case via
video-conference from Calgary, didn't believe Mr. Orozco was gay
because he wasn't sexually active during his teen years, and wasn't
clear about his sexual orientation when he fled Nicaragua at the age
of 12.
El-Farouk Khaki, his lawyer, says the case shows the difficulty of gay
refugee claimants who come from a macho or homophobic culture and are
unaccustomed to living an openly gay lifestyle. It also reflects a
stereotype in assuming gay teens are more sexually active than
heterosexual teens.
'I think the decision shows a lack of understanding of issues facing
queer kids from homophobic cultures and what they have to deal with in
terms of gender stereotypes,' he said.
Mr. Orozco's last hope is to appeal for a ministerial permit from
Immigration Minister Diane Finley. 'We are asking the minister to
grant him a stay of removal on humanitarian grounds and allow him to
stay,' Mr. Khaki said.
Mr. Khaki, who didn't represent Mr. Orozco at the hearing, is also
filing a motion to reopen his refugee claim, arguing there was a
breach of natural justice because the member failed to consider
guidelines on treatment of a vulnerable person.
Mr. Orozco is vulnerable, his lawyer added, because he is young,
uneducated, alone, a victim of domestic abuse and homeless. He also
stutters, which impedes communication.
In Nicaragua, a 1992 amendment to the penal code criminalized same-sex
relationships, and the law is vague enough that individuals
campaigning for gay rights or providing sexual health information
could also be prosecuted, according to a 2006 Amnesty International
report.
'The law criminalizing sodomy was introduced in 1992 and [there] was a
concerted effort to put it on the books despite lobbying and criticism
by human rights groups,' said Mr. Khaki, who has represented other gay
Nicaraguan refugee claimants with success.
Since coming to Toronto two years ago, Mr. Orozco says he has finally
felt comfortable to live a gay lifestyle, and spends his weekends at
gay bars. 'The law protects me here. In Nicaragua, I could be put in
jail,' he says. 'I still fear my father, who threatened that he would
kill me for being gay.'
His life story is a dramatic one: He ran away from home just before
his 13th birthday, fleeing his alcoholic father. He hitchhiked through
Central America and Mexico, and made it to the Mexican-Texas border,
where he swam across the Rio Grande with a Honduran boy. However, he
nearly drowned after his legs became entangled in algae and he
couldn't swim against the strong currents. His Honduran friend saved
him, and they swam to safety.
U.S. immigration officials arrested Mr. Orozco, and he spent a year in
a detention centre in Houston. He was 14. He was released when he
agreed to return to Nicaragua. Instead, he ran away and was taken in
by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Terrified they would reject him
if they discovered he was gay, he says he kept his sexual orientation
hidden. He was also scared because he was living in the United States
illegally.
IRB member Ms. Lamont didn't accept this explanation. 'I found the
claimant's many explanations unsatisfactory for why he chose not to
pursue same-sex relationships in the U.S. as he alleged it was his
intention to do so and he wanted to do so,' she ruled.
Instead, she concluded: '. . . he is not a homosexual . . . and
fabricated the sexual orientation component to support a non-existent
claim for protection in Canada.'
Mr. Orozco said he didn't seek asylum in the United States on the
advice of church officials there. In 2005, he took a bus to Buffalo
after reading about Canada's support for gay rights and generous
asylum program on the Internet. He made his way to a Buffalo shelter,
Vive La Casa, which helped him make a refugee claim.
Today, Mr. Orozco is being assisted by a Toronto program for gay
newcomers and refugee claimants run by Supporting Our Youth (SOY). Gay
refugee claimants often have trouble persuading IRB members they are
sincere, especially if they are poor witnesses, said Suhail
Abualsameed, program director.
Mr. Orozco went before the IRB with no supporting documentation from
gay advocates. 'She asked me for proof of being gay and I didn't have
it,' he said. 'But it is illogical that she didn't believe me.'
We need your support... Please read the email below and do your best
to come to
the Media Event this coming Thursday. Please distribute this email to all your
networks.
Thank you...
Hola a todos...
Necesitamos su apoyo... Por favor lean este email y traten de asistir
al evento
este Jueves, asi como pasar este correo a todos sus amigos y amigas.
Gracias...
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE WIDELY
Good morning friends and supporters,
Alvaro Orozco who is facing an un-just
deportation order that is scheduled to
take effect on Feb 13th. This a dramatic
story of a young man, living in Toronto
for the past 2 years, and has been
unfairly treated by the system and
faces a very grim future if we don'€™t
succeed in helping him.
Alavaro’s full story and all the contact info
and ways you can help can be
found at: www.orangehabitat.com/alvaro
Here is the brief:
Alvaro's situation is quite desperate.
This young man has been running for
safety and security for the last 9 years,
in a very long journey across central
and North America escaping sever family
abuse in Nicaragua that started when he
was only 12 years old. He swam across
rivers to cross borders, spent many
months in detention in the US and lived
off the charity of good people he met
on his way, until he was refused refugee
protection in Canada because the judge
(who conducted the hearing over a TV screen
from Calgary) didn'€™t think he looked gay
enough for her and didn’t think it
makes sense that a young boy managed to
live such a dramatic story and survive
(I guess in her Calgary suburb she doesn'€™t
see much of what really happens in the world)...
Alvaro, is facing deportation in 9 days to
the US who will arrest him and then in turn
send him after weeks in detention to Nicaragua
(where there are still sodomy laws in effect
and people do go to prison for being gay) for
absolutely no fault or a crime, but for being
the victim of abuse and injustice all his life.
This amazingly bright, sensitive, generous,
intuitive and spiritual young man hasn'€™t seen
a happy day in many years, but he keeps strong
faith in a better future and is always showing
appreciation for the small gestures of goodness
that he receives from those few who've been good
to him.
We have a media event planned for this coming
Thursday at 2:00 pm we need as many people as
possible to come out to the event.We also need
people to contact the Minister of Immigration
and ask her to order the Stay.
Alavaro’s full story and all the contact info
and ways you can help can be
found at: www.orangehabitat. com/alvaro
What: €ťHigh Cost For Freedom
When: Thursday, February 8, 2-3 pm
Where: 519 Community Centre (Church
and Wellesley), auditorium
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, PLEASE ACT FAST, ACT NOW
Thanks for reading through this and for your support.
Have a great day.
Suhail Abualsameed
__________________________________________________ __________________
Globe and Mail
Can't prove he's gay, teen is denied asylum
Nicaraguan fears his return home as board member unconvinced over sexuality
MARINA JIMÉNEZ
February 7, 2007
Alvaro Antonio Orozco, a gay teen runaway from Nicaragua, was denied
asylum in Canada because the Immigration and Refugee Board didn't
believe he was a homosexual.
Mr. Orozco, now 21, is slated for removal next Tuesday to a country
where sodomy is illegal and to a family that he says beat him and
taunted him for his sexual orientation ever since he was a young boy.
'My father called me 'marica' [a derogatory word for gay], and told me
he would beat it out of me,' Mr. Orozco said. 'But it's impossible to
prove you are gay.'
Soft-spoken with delicate features, wearing a pink-checked shirt, Mr.
Orozco certainly looks the part, and says that from a young age he
felt and behaved differently. He was drawn to artistic pursuits and
often played indoors as a child, and today aspires to be a nurse.
But Deborah Lamont, the IRB member who heard his case via
video-conference from Calgary, didn't believe Mr. Orozco was gay
because he wasn't sexually active during his teen years, and wasn't
clear about his sexual orientation when he fled Nicaragua at the age
of 12.
El-Farouk Khaki, his lawyer, says the case shows the difficulty of gay
refugee claimants who come from a macho or homophobic culture and are
unaccustomed to living an openly gay lifestyle. It also reflects a
stereotype in assuming gay teens are more sexually active than
heterosexual teens.
'I think the decision shows a lack of understanding of issues facing
queer kids from homophobic cultures and what they have to deal with in
terms of gender stereotypes,' he said.
Mr. Orozco's last hope is to appeal for a ministerial permit from
Immigration Minister Diane Finley. 'We are asking the minister to
grant him a stay of removal on humanitarian grounds and allow him to
stay,' Mr. Khaki said.
Mr. Khaki, who didn't represent Mr. Orozco at the hearing, is also
filing a motion to reopen his refugee claim, arguing there was a
breach of natural justice because the member failed to consider
guidelines on treatment of a vulnerable person.
Mr. Orozco is vulnerable, his lawyer added, because he is young,
uneducated, alone, a victim of domestic abuse and homeless. He also
stutters, which impedes communication.
In Nicaragua, a 1992 amendment to the penal code criminalized same-sex
relationships, and the law is vague enough that individuals
campaigning for gay rights or providing sexual health information
could also be prosecuted, according to a 2006 Amnesty International
report.
'The law criminalizing sodomy was introduced in 1992 and [there] was a
concerted effort to put it on the books despite lobbying and criticism
by human rights groups,' said Mr. Khaki, who has represented other gay
Nicaraguan refugee claimants with success.
Since coming to Toronto two years ago, Mr. Orozco says he has finally
felt comfortable to live a gay lifestyle, and spends his weekends at
gay bars. 'The law protects me here. In Nicaragua, I could be put in
jail,' he says. 'I still fear my father, who threatened that he would
kill me for being gay.'
His life story is a dramatic one: He ran away from home just before
his 13th birthday, fleeing his alcoholic father. He hitchhiked through
Central America and Mexico, and made it to the Mexican-Texas border,
where he swam across the Rio Grande with a Honduran boy. However, he
nearly drowned after his legs became entangled in algae and he
couldn't swim against the strong currents. His Honduran friend saved
him, and they swam to safety.
U.S. immigration officials arrested Mr. Orozco, and he spent a year in
a detention centre in Houston. He was 14. He was released when he
agreed to return to Nicaragua. Instead, he ran away and was taken in
by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Terrified they would reject him
if they discovered he was gay, he says he kept his sexual orientation
hidden. He was also scared because he was living in the United States
illegally.
IRB member Ms. Lamont didn't accept this explanation. 'I found the
claimant's many explanations unsatisfactory for why he chose not to
pursue same-sex relationships in the U.S. as he alleged it was his
intention to do so and he wanted to do so,' she ruled.
Instead, she concluded: '. . . he is not a homosexual . . . and
fabricated the sexual orientation component to support a non-existent
claim for protection in Canada.'
Mr. Orozco said he didn't seek asylum in the United States on the
advice of church officials there. In 2005, he took a bus to Buffalo
after reading about Canada's support for gay rights and generous
asylum program on the Internet. He made his way to a Buffalo shelter,
Vive La Casa, which helped him make a refugee claim.
Today, Mr. Orozco is being assisted by a Toronto program for gay
newcomers and refugee claimants run by Supporting Our Youth (SOY). Gay
refugee claimants often have trouble persuading IRB members they are
sincere, especially if they are poor witnesses, said Suhail
Abualsameed, program director.
Mr. Orozco went before the IRB with no supporting documentation from
gay advocates. 'She asked me for proof of being gay and I didn't have
it,' he said. 'But it is illogical that she didn't believe me.'