Protesters gather to support Egyptians who have refused asylum by border guards

Protesters gathered at Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino’s constituency office on Saturday to protest what they say was Islamophobia at the Canada Border Services Agency.

“We are protesting because we have a group of CBSA officials who are meant to represent the Minister of Public Security,” said Mostafa Mahmoud, a Toronto-based representative of the Egyptian-Canadian Coalition for Democracy, noting that the group believes that CBSA agents wrongly denied granting refugee status. to Egyptians based on Islamophobia.

Among the asylum seekers involved is Attia Elserafy, a former member of Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party, the country’s short-lived democratically elected government.

After Elserafy lived in exile from Egypt to Turkey, Elserafy came to Canada in 2018 with his wife and children. CBSA agents in Vancouver allegedly used his association with the Muslim Brotherhood, which founded the Freedom and Justice Party, to deny his claim to refugee status.

“The official position of the Government of Canada as well as CSIS, they do not regard those parties as a terrorist organization,” Mahmoud explained.

However, as reported by Nicholas Keung of the Star, the Federal Court has made it clear that officials have the authority to order a foreign national unauthorized, even if the group to which the person allegedly belongs is not on the Canadian government’s designated terrorist list not, and note that border agents and judges of immigration tribunals are independent decision-makers who have the discretion to decide on admissibility.

As reported earlier this month, CBSA agents in Vancouver claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist group that promotes violence and is involved in undermining a democratic government.

Mendicino’s office did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.

The protest on Saturday coincided with the National Day of Remembrance and Action against Islamophobia, with rallies also taking place in Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa.