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Exonerated from suspicion, still in limbo

Monday, August 15th, 2005

 

On September 7, 2006 – at long last – Suleyman Goven was granted landed status as a permanent resident in Canada.

Suleyman is Kurdish, from Turkey. Canada recognized him as a legitimate refugee and gave him protected person status when he arrived here in 1991. He has been in limbo since applying for permanent residence status – 13 years – unable to get on with his life, because of unfounded accusations of terrorist activity in his country of origin. He was cleared of these allegations in 2000 by the Security Intelligence Review Committee but his status did not change until now.

Without permanent residence status, Suleyman has not been able to travel outside of Canada to see his family. While eligible for full employment, his SIN card began with the tell-tale number “9” which lets employers know he did not have permanent status. For the first 10 years of his period in limbo, he was, as a refugee, ineligible for student loans, and so did not pursue further education, though that was a great interest.

Last November, Suleyman filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government for damages for the wasted years in limbo. His lawyer is Andrew Brouwer, who first got involved in Suleyman’s case as a member of the stalwart Southern Ontario Sanctuary Coalition while on staff at CPJ. The lawsuit continues.

Fullest congratulations, Suleyman.

Sami Durgun and Suleyman Goven are Kurdish refugees to Canada who were accused of being terrorists in their native Turkey. This accusation has haunted them in their struggle to become permanent residents of Canada and get on with their lives.

In 2000, the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which was privy to all the records of RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), declared there was no basis for this accusation, the immigration files of the two men should be re-opened, and they should be granted permanent residency in Canada.

Here are the documents assembled at the release of the SIRC report in February 2000.

Sami Durgun has since been given a minister's permit and received permanent residency. Suleyman Goven (as of August, 2005) continues to live in limbo under the taint of the label of terrorist which is most difficult to disprove, once used.

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