CANADIAN MUSLIMS WELCOME CHANGE IN U.S. PROFILING POLICY
U.S. Must Make Good On Assurances And Resolve Arar Case, Says CAIR-Can
(Ottawa, Canada - 10/31/02) - A national Canadian advocacy organization
today commended the Canadian government's efforts in securing recent
assurances from U.S. authorities that Canadian citizens born in several
Middle East and North African countries will not be fingerprinted and
photographed upon entry into the United States.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham stated today that he had received the
assurances from US Ambassador Paul Cellucci.
In a statement released this afternoon, CAIR-CAN wrote:
"The Canadian government's vocal protest against discriminatory US
requirements has been admirable and has, it appears, secured a rescinding
of the US law for Canadian citizens.
"Our government must continue to press the US to make good on its promise
and ensure that Canadians are not racially profiled or denied their
fundamental liberties in traveling to or through the US.
"We call on Mr. Graham to insist that the US government resolves the issue
of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was illegally and inhumanely deported
by the US to Jordan in early October."
The issue of the United States’ discriminatory treatment of Canadian
citizens born in selected Muslim countries came to public attention through
CAIR-CAN’s work on behalf of the Arar family.
CAIR-CAN also praised the diligent efforts of NDP leader Alexa McDonough
and Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark as playing a significant role
in securing the US assurances.
U.S. BOWS TO CANADA'S PRESSURE
William Douglas, Newsday, 11/1/02
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wowarn012986747nov01,0,4439
22.story
Washington - The Canadians were clearly angry. In a most unneighborly act,
their government slapped a travel advisory on their big southern neighbor
this week, warning some Canadians of Middle Eastern ancestry to avoid the
United States if they could.
It was the sort of warning normally issued in connection with the world's
roughest neighborhoods, such as Pakistan, Yemen and other lands where
Westerners could be targeted for murder for political ends. But Canadian
officials said they were fed up with what they perceive as overzealousness
on the part of Washington in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In a
week when the State Department unveiled a $15-million public relations
campaign aimed at convincing Muslims overseas that it's OK to be a Muslim
in the United States, the unusual Canadian maneuver was a public
embarrassment for the U.S. government.
But by yesterday evening, seeking to end months of Canadian ire, the Bush
administration had agreed to alter its approach to Canadian visitors.
In Ottawa, Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham declared victory when he
informed the House of Commons that U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci had told
him Canadians would no longer be subjected to strict measures that were
introduced on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The
travel advisory, however, will remain in place for now, he said…
Canada's complaints come just as the State Department debuted a series of
two-minute mini-documentaries in Indonesia designed to reduce anti-American
sentiment in the Muslim world.
"This [Canadian passport flap] certainly doesn't help the U.S. effort to
reach out to the Arab world," said Riad Saloojee of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations-Canada. "There is perceived by many Canadian
Arabs and Muslims racial profiling in America, not just of American
citizens, but Canadian citizens."
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