Winnipeg family in sanctuary 'shaken' by rejected appeal

A family livingin sanctuary inside a Winnipeg church was shaken after receiving news Sunday that theirappeal to leave sanctuary until their refugee applications are reviewedwas rejected.

The Raza family Hassan Raza, his wife Sarfraz Kausar and their six children, ages one to 13 have been living in sanctuary inside the Crescent Fort Rouge United Church since Aug. 3.

On Sunday, the family learned through their lawyer, David Matas, that the federal Immigration Department turned down their appeal to leave sanctuary and live in Winnipeg while their application to stay in Canada on compassionate and humanitarian grounds awaits a review.

"It's been disapointing, and sometimes my mom starts crying and she gets worried about us,"daughter Rubab Raza, 13, said Monday. "She says, 'whatever happens, I am not going back to Pakistan.' "

"They were quite shaken," Rev. Barb Janes ofCrescent Fort Rougetold CBC News on Monday. "I think all of us had been hoping against hope that this appeal would be heard.

"We're kind of scrambling to understand whether this ruling signals a future direction of the government, or whether this is a discrete process that certainly brings bad news to us and the family."

The family was threatened with deportation to Pakistan in August, after a Federal Court rejected their refugee claim based on the threat of religious persecution. Hassan Raza is a Shia Muslim, while Kausar is Sunni, and the family fears persecution in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country. Hassan Raza has said he was beaten while in detention in that country.

Janes said Immigration Department officials wield too much power, since one person can make a potentially life-and-death decision for an entire family.

"They're as human as any of us and we believe mistakes can be made, and we're of the conviction that a mistake was made in the Raza family's case," Janes said.

"Section 25 of the Immigration Act stipulates that the well-being of any children involved must be taken into account, and we're not convinced that that was the case with these six children."

Two options still pending

Since leaving Pakistan in 1998, the Razas have lived in the United States, and have been in Canada the last four years. Two of the children were born here and are Canadian citizens.

Janes said although the family's latest application was rejected, she is not giving up hope. She added that the family still has yet to hear back on a couple of options.

"They suffered intense persecution while they were there [in Pakistan], so the humanitarian and compassionate application is pending. There's a huge backlog of those, and the outcome of them is a very slim margin of hope there," Janes said.

"The other possibility is that Monte Solberg, the minister of immigration and refugee concerns, could within his powers make a discretionary intervention on the family's behalf."

In the meantime, Janes said her church will continue to support the Razas in sanctuary.

"We are prepared to do everything in our powers to allow this family [to]stay in Canada, and we're working very hard to find as many layers of government to talk to as we can," Janes said. "We're not prepared to give up on them at all."

On Nov. 2, officials with the United Church of Canada asked Solberg to talk to them about the family's case.