Press_Releases

Stop

Sepehr Hajipour

Deportations to Iran

"We say NO Deportations to Iran!

We mean Human Rights in Canada!"

NDTI is a collective of individuals who are putting their efforts together to protest Human Rights abuses in Canada.

Help Sara is a self generated campaign against social injustice and human rights abuses.

Everyone's participation is needed. All suggestions are welcomed.

Please contact us at info@NDTI.ca

MEDIA RELEASE (2) February 17, 2013

Teacher�s Assistant to Special Needs Youth being deported
Deportation Stayed but Removal still a possibility

The plight of Sepehr Hajipour continues to keep him and those around him on pins and needles. He has had 2 scheduled removals thus far, both of which were legally improper. His first scheduled removal of December 13, 2012 was aborted as CBSA conceded he was eligible for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, and cannot be legally removed until given an opportunity to make such an application. His second scheduled removal of February 8, 2013 was stayed as it became clear key evidence submitted with his PRRA application were not properly before the decision maker rendering the PRRA determination void. He has 30 days to make further submission in the PRRA application and will await the decision of a new PRRA officer to decide his fate.

While Sepehr�s PRRA application is strong, he has made a Humanitarian and Compassionate application which is even stronger. Sepehr has been a beacon of love and support to his two cousins in Toronto whom he helped lift out of depression after they were abandoned by their father.

Media Contact:

Pantea Jafari

Lawyer for Sepehr Hajipour

Jafari Law

45 Sheppard Ave. E. Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 5W9

Tel: (416) 825-0650
Fax: (415) 850-1402

jafari@jafarilaw.ca

He is a teacher�s assistant to physically and mentally disabled youth whom he has developed profound ties with over the 3 years he has been with the Toronto District School Board. He maintains a personal relationship with these youth outside the classroom as many of them rely on him on a daily basis to get through their days. Students, parents and staff of the school have all written dozens of letters of support on his behalf. He has been a productive member of the Toronto Community since his arrival in 2009, and makes a daily impact on the lives of dozens of Canadian children and the broader community. He hopes for his H & C application to be expedited so that his contribution to Canadian society can be assessed before his PRRA determination is made. As Sepehr has been detained since December 6th, 2012, that determination can come as soon as mid March.

Sepehr has been detained since December 6th, 2012 (79 days) due to his honesty and candour in expressing his fear of return to Iran. As he has medical concerns (he suffers from major depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) he has been detained at a maximum security prison instead of the Immigration Holding Centre as the former has on-site medical staff. He was denied his daily anxiety medical for the first 51 days of detention.

Despite his family�s continued attempts to secure his release, and the offer of bail by two people for the amount of $10.000 and $20.000, Sepehr continues to be held in jail.

For more information related to Sepehr and community efforts to stop his deportation please visit the site www.helpsepehr.ca.

Family, friends, supporters and human rights activists will gather throughout the week starting Monday February 18th (Family Day) between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm in front of West Detention Centre at 111 Disco Rd., Rexdale, where Sepehr is held.

Press release prepared by NDTI (www.nodeportationstoiran.org)

Sepehr Hajipour (D.O.B. Aug 15, 1985)

MEDIA RELEASE (1)

Teacher�s Assistant to Special Needs Youth being deported

Sepehr Hajipour, a 28 year old teacher�s assist for youth with special needs is scheduled to be deported to Iran on February 8, 2013. The Toronto District School Board hired him as an occasional teacher�s assistant to 14-21 year old youth with special needs because it had been impressed with his volunteer service to them. The teachers, staff, students, and families of the school have supported Sepehr throughout his efforts to remain in Canada including writing dozens of letters of support, offering to be his surety, and signing petitions on his behalf. The children, in their own words, have relayed just how devastated they are about the pending removal of their beloved friend, mentor, and role model.

Sepehr came to Canada in 2009 fleeing Iranian security forces that were searching for him due to his involvement in the anti-government protests of 2009�known informally as the �Green Movement�. He lives here with his aunt and two cousins, who suffered with depression and anxiety after their father had abandoned them, until Sepehr�s nurturing filled the void they had felt. Sepehr has been their beacon of love and healing in their lives.

Media Contact:

Pantea Jafari

Lawyer for Sepehr Hajipour

Jafari Law

45 Sheppard Ave. E. Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 5W9

Tel: (416) 825-0650
Fax: (415) 850-1402

jafari@jafarilaw.ca

While Sepehr attended each CBSA interview without fail, he was detained on December 6, 2012 because he displayed a real fear of being returned to Iran. He was release at his first detention review because, at the time, he was due to be deported on December 13, 2012. After his lawyer advised CBSA that his removal would be unlawful until a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) was conducted, the removal was aborted. Even though he could no longer legally be deported in the near future, and aware that Sepehr suffers from PTSD and severe depression, exacerbated by CBSA�s confining him with criminals (and not in the immigration detention centre), he was denied release at two further detention reviews because of his very real and visible fear of being returned to Iran. For the first 51 days of his detention, Toronto West Detention Staff did not provide Sepehr with the daily anxiety medication he takes for depression and PTSD which enable him to sleep, despite repeated requests by him and his lawyer. It was not until his lawyer advised that failing to provide him his required daily medication amounted to cruel and unusual punishment or treatment in violation of his most basic human rights, and that a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission would be filed that Sepehr Toronto West staff finally saw to it that Sepehr�s prescription be filled.

Today, CBSA notified Sepehr that his application for a PRRA was denied and that he would be deported to Iran on Friday, February 8^th, 2013. Although the standard, minimum notice is two weeks, CBSA has ordered him deported 8 days hence which limit his opportunity to challenge the PRRA decision.

He is expected to request a Federal Court judge to bar his removal until the Court has ruled on the propriety of the decision to deport him to Iran. His students and Canadian family hope that the Federal Court judge, unlike the immigration judges and officers, will show mercy to this outstanding young man.

Sepehr Hajipour
D.O.B.- Aug 15, 1985