Pakistani family languishing in Winnipeg church

Bid to avoid deportation nearly a year old

Last Updated: Monday, June 18, 2007 | 9:18 AM CT

CBC News

After living for almost a year inside a Winnipeg church, a family seeking sanctuary from deportation is no closer to knowing whether they will be allowed to stay in Canada.
 
Hassan Raza and Sarfraz Kausar and their six children have been living within the walls of Crescent Fort Rouge United Church since last August to avoid deportation to Pakistan, where they say they would face religious persecution.

Rubab Raza, 13, says living in the church has taken its toll on her family.

Hassan Raza (second from left) and his family inside the Crescent Fort Rouge United Church in November, four months after they sought refuge there.
(CBC)

"It's getting frustrating," she told CBC News "Our mom has been having chest pains.  My dad's head has been hurting. And I need some fillings in my teeth."

A team of church volunteers has been taking care of Raza's parents and her five siblings for the last 10 months. Four of the family's children have been allowed to attend school, under escort, since February.

While most of Rubab Raza's classmates are looking forward to the end of the school year, Raza, 13, is saddened at the thought of spending her days inside the church, away from her friends.

Crescent Fort Rouge minister Barb Janes says she can't understand why repeated pleas for political intervention in the family's case have fallen on deaf ears.

"This is a federal government that campaigned on a policy of openness and open doors, and what we're facing is closed doors and a refusal to engage in the conversation," she said.

The family and congregation are pinning their hopes on an application to stay in Canada on compassionate and humanitarian grounds. It is currently under review.

Rally planned for Wednesday

"We are continuing in our wait-and-see pattern. I think much will depend on what happens with the … application," Jane said.

"If that is a go, then our prayers are answered. If it's not a go, we need to be thinking of [ramping] up the political lobbying even further than we have and trying to find more creative ways into the hearts of the folks who are making those decisions."

In November, the federal Immigration Department turned down their appeal to leave sanctuary and live in Winnipeg while the application to stay in Canada is under review.

The congregation at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church is holding a rally Wednesday evening, World Refugee Day, in support of the Raza family. It will include performances from local musicians, as well as speeches from justice advocates. There is no admission at the door.

Since leaving Pakistan in 1998, the family has lived in the United States, and has been in Canada for more than four years. Two of the couple's six children were born here and are Canadian citizens.

The family sought refuge in the church Aug. 3, 2006 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 Pakistan.