Algeria has been wracked by civil war since 1989. The Canadian government considers it unsafe and has issued a travel advisory for those wishing to visit the country. In 1997, because of the dangers of the conflict, Canada issued a moratorium on deportation from Canada to Algeria: no one in Canada, regardless of their immigration status, could be deported to Algeria.

In April of 2002, when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was in Algeria striking up business deals for Canadian corporations, the Canadian government lifted the moratorium on deportations. This left over 1000 “non-status” Algerians, whose refugee or immigration claims had either not been processed or had been rejected, in imminent danger of deportation to a country that was no safer than it had been when the moratorium was first imposed.

In Montreal, the non-status Algerians organized themselves into the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians. They linked up with a grassroots group of activists called “No One is Illegal” and are fighting for their rights.

rabble interviewer Justin Podur asked committee members Soumya Boussouf, Nacera Kellou and Muhammad Cherfi about the situation in Algeria, the plight facing those awaiting deportation from Canada and what they are trying to do about it.

Why are people leaving Algeria?

There is a civil war in Algeria. From 1962, when Algeria became independent from France, it was ruled by the National Liberation Front. This was a one-party regime, a dictatorship. In October 1988, there was a revolt against the dictatorship of this party. The demands were for parliamentary democracy, the freedom to form political parties, democratic freedoms. Among the different parties that were formed was the Islamic Salvation Front.

The Islamists campaign promise was that if they won, they would abolish the system of parliamentary democracy and elections that brought them to power and establish an Islamic regime. In spite of that, there was so much resentment for the dictatorship that the Islamists were going to win. The government responded by abolishing the elections and making the Islamic party an illegal party. They arrested the leaders and besieged Algiers.

There was a siege, a state of emergency, including curfews, rounding people up and arresting them, there were fourteen “unofficial” prisons established. The Islamists responded with armed strikes and demonstrations, assassinations. Various armed groups pressuring the population. The population was, and still is, living through kidnappings, torture and the assassinations of thousands. Since 1992 there have been 150,000 killed and 8000 disappeared in the violence. Most of the embassies in Algeria are gone. Britain and Germany were the first to go. Many countries suspended trade.

And is there any international participation in a solution? Are there any prospects for a peace negotiation?

The interest of the international community in Algeria seems to be in going there to make money. There would be hope for reconciliation if there were elections. Remember that the war started because the elections were stopped those years ago.

In 1988 there was a revolt against the dictatorship and for democracy, elections, a multiparty system. We need to get back there somehow. A democratic process where people used the resources of the country to work on peace. But there is a problem. How do you deal with a religious party that promises to abolish the democratic process?

Is there any ’third’ force, other than the Islamists and the government? Or is it a situation of total polarization?

There are some NGOs, like the Algerian Human Rights League. But it is very difficult because many of the international organizations have left. Amnesty International was the last to leave, but basically all have left. Human rights organizations aren’t allowed in to monitor the situation. Even when they were there they didn’t have the power to pressure the combatants to respect human rights, they could only monitor and record the violations.

But there is no way to avoid the war. You are either conscripted into service on the government’s side or you join the other side, or become a victim of the violence.

What does Canada say about the lifting of the moratorium? Are theyclaiming that the violence in Algeria is over?

Canada had a moratorium on deportations to Algeria from 1997. It was lifted in 2002, for the wrong reasons. Chrétien was in Algiers, looking for contracts: water, dams, hospital projects. Five days later the moratorium was lifted and since then over 1000 people have been living in constant fear of returning to that situation.

The Canadian government claims that the situation has improved and that the areas of violence are localized. This is totally false. But most governments hate having moratoria in any case. The Canadian government didn’t want to have the moratorium — it was only imposed as a result of significant pressure from human rights groups, particularly in Montreal. In 1997, Canada was thought of as the “human rights” country on the international scene, and so it felt it had to respond to that pressure. But things have changed since 1997. In the post 9/11 climate, many countries took measures against immigrants and refugees, and Canada is no exception. There is a shift to the right all over the world that means people are more likely to accept deportations now.

What are the demands of the Action Committee of Non-Status Algerians?

First, restoration of the moratorium on deportations and a stop to deportations. We want this so that not only people who are here, but anyone who is able to get here, will be safe from deportation. We also demand a regularization of the status of the “non-status.”

We’ve recently added a fourth demand. In negotiations with the Canadian government, they have claimed that it would be unfair not to deport us now because they have deported thirty-two Algerians already. Our fourth demand is that these thirty-two be allowed to return to Canada. We have no information on these people, who they are, when they were deported, or where they are now. With the situation in Algeria, unless the Canadian government provides the information, there is no way we could find them: there’s no organization in Algeria that keeps track of things like this.

What kinds of actions has the Committee taken? What are the strategies you’ve employed?

We’ve been mobilizing, educating, and organizing assemblies of the non-status. We have had demonstrations and vigils. In one action, the women’s committee, including lots of children, went to the office of Denis Coderre, Canada’s Immigration Minister, to demand a meeting to discuss the situation. They were in the office a long time, and by the time they all told their stories the staff throughout the office were in tears. Linking up with the No One is Illegal Campaign has been important. They have helped a lot with our case, and we’re appreciative because this isn’t just about the rights of Algerians. Everyone should have these rights, and we hope that others will be able to take advantage of the work that we do.

We’ve also tried to help people by setting up clinics where they could fill out their documents if they are going to try to go through the immigration system. Immigration Canada has offered this as a solution, that the non-status apply for immigration through the standard channels. We don’t agree with this, because immigration is granted to people based on their job skills, their language skills. Should not speaking French or English mean you have less of a right not to be returned to a situation where you could be tortured and killed? Many of us would have liked to say ’no!’ to this solution, but we held an assembly and we voted, and the vote was that we would follow the law in this case.

Tell me about the Women’s Committee.

We formed the women’s committee partly because it was quickly obvious that it was mostly men who were coming to the meetings, and that the men weren’t keeping their wives informed. The women were just as much affected, so we had to organize as women. In a country like Algeria, women’s rights are trampled. In 1984, the ’family court’ was established in the Algerian Constitution that further disadvantaged women in the legal system. Women are targeted in the civil war. It’s a double crime to deport a woman back to Algeria.

In our direct actions women have come up with some of the best ideas. It was the women’s committee who established the custom of creating cards, signs with numbers on them and wearing them at demonstrations, to show how the government treats us as numbers and not people. The Women’s Committee, and the Non-Status Committee, want our actions to give hope to similar causes, wherever they might be, now and in the future.

Justin Podur

Justin Podur is a writer and editor for ZNet (www.zmag.org), part of Z Communications, an alternative media organization dedicated to political analysis and support for movements for social change....