International Human Rights Day is December 10, 2016. Former immigration detainees and supporters of immigrants jailed indefinitely without charges or trial will surround the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre (TIHC), a medium security immigration prison, to oppose the expansion of immigration detention prisons, and call for an end to detentions.
In August, Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale responded to a 19-day hunger strike by immigration detainees in Lindsay’s Central Correctional Centre, a maximum security provincial prison, by allotting $138 million to expand immigration prisons in Canada, rather than create laws to end indefinite detention. An additional $38 million dollars had already been allotted to expand the Immigration Holding Centre in Toronto, expected to be completed next month. 2016 has seen three more people die in the custody of Canada Border Services Agency (at least 15 people have died in Canadian immigration detention since 2000). The United Nations has repeatedly criticized Canada for refusing to introduce legislation that would place a 90-day limit on immigration detention.
WHAT: Immigration detainees and supporters calling for laws limiting detentions pending deportations to 90 days, ending the use of maximum security prisons to imprison migrants and overhaul the judicial review process as initial steps to ending immigration detention.
WHEN: 4:00pm, Saturday, December 10, 2016
WHERE: Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, 385 Rexdale Blvd
SPEAKERS: Eric Kusi (Released in August after three years in immigration detention), Sharmeen Khan (No One Is Illegal-Toronto), Karin Baqi (Immigration and refugee lawyer)
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