Original subtitles

-Please don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Don't kill me.

Please don't kill me, I'm begging you.

Please don't kill me, please don't kill me.

When we talk about refugee protection,

that's our obligation.

We signed the 1951 convention, and the promise we gave

is actually very narrow.

The only promise of every signatory

is this-- we will not return someone to persecution.

And quite frankly, we've got the time and space.

And my God, if Canada can't do it, who the heck else

would we expect to?

I get really angry like, you know,

like, I just don't know how to deal with it, honestly.

And a lot of people really don't know

what I'm going through in my head

because of what I have been through,

you know, and still is going through

because of my sexuality.

Everything.

Every night, I thank God that I made it through the day.

So I beg Him to take care of me, because I am so much afraid.

From the demonstration that we

have seen in terms of the acts of violence

towards the community, it could certainly

be labeled as the most homophobic country

in the Western world.

What we have here in Jamaica is a very

fundamentalist Christian debate.

Our prime minister, in 2008, on the BBC,

said, not in my cabinet, no gays shall

have solace in his cabinet.

As well educated as your prime minister sporting

such discrimination, you should expect

it to filter through the larger society.

-I live alone, because my girlfriend--

she's actually my wife, recently-- migrated, 5 months,

now.

My love affair is very high.

Well, you've seen were I live.

If I don't have enough taxi fare to take me right to my door

here, to just run in, I don't go out, or I stay where I am.

I really,

really got to know Trudi was when she came to my full time

job, along with her partner, Betsy.

I asked what was the problem, and they told me

that, well, where they lived, they had to move from,

and they didn't have anywhere to go.

Because a family member attacked them, and Trudi was beaten.

Because when I saw her, she had scars,

and her face was still slightly swollen,

and they said she was beaten by these guys in there,

because they were told that they were lesbians.

So, and they wanted them to move out of the area.

So they wanted help.

They didn't know what else to do.

They've been, you know, moving from hotels,

and their money run out, they don't have anywhere else

to stay.

And, you know, there comes my part.

I have to make sure that, well, we

tried to help them to relocate.

-Once I got the beating, I should have just counted myself

privileged, because they could have killed me.

That's what they were showing us,

that well, it's going to get worse.

It's not going to get better.

So that was the message in the beating.

You know, we didn't have any more friends around here

to protect us.

Because that's how it is in Jamaica.

If you wanna be seen, you have to

It wasn't like that for us.

Even the gun finger, sometimes, they

would point and say, bop, bop, bop, bop.

That means gunshots for you.

That's all they have to say, but you

know that it's directed to you.

-Just before I left, she was raped at gun point.

And she told me, and I felt so bad.

I was like, I wish there was something that I could do,

wish I-- I was leaving right now,

but, you know, I had to leave.

So I was hoping then that, you know, actually, I

would be able to help her to escape-- to get away.

-What we've seen the women face is the corrective rape.

And it is more than just rape.

It's a rape to suggest, well, what you really

need is sex with a man, and this will straighten you out.

And so it's-- I can only imagine, from what I've heard,

from what the women say.

It's more than just rough sex-- it's physical and mental

torture.

-They assaulted me, they raped me.

They said stuff like, hey girl, you're dressed like man,

so you are more sodomite, and lesbian-- mostly lesbian.

And the one with the gun, he put it to my head,

he hold me like this and put it to my head and said,

"Don't make any noise."

I realize I had a scarf on my head, so I tied my face,

and I said, like, please don't kill me.

Please don't kill me.

I didn't see your face.

I didn't see your face.

And he pull it off my head.

And I said, shut up.

And I started, like, whispering, I was like,

please kill me, please don't kill me,

please don't kill me, please don't kill me,

I'm begging you, please.

I don't have any money.

I don't have anything, really, to kill me for.

You know?

So they took me up there.

On the way there, I tried to run.

I couldn't run.

I fell.

That's where I got this injury from.

I fell, and then, you know, he pick me up off the ground

and it was like, hey, you try and run?

He was saying, why you tried to run?

You can't stop gunshots.

Can you dodge bullets?

I said, "No, sir."

I was still reasoning for my life, so I was like, "No,

but if it was you, what would you try to do?"

in the softest tone of voice, I was like,

"Please don't kill me.

You know, please, I didn't see your face.

I won't go to the cops.

I just want to live."

-The most important challenge is to actually, physically,

get here.

Canada has a relatively strong refugee protection system

internationally.

When we compare our system with other systems around the world,

we have a fairly high amount of procedural protections

for refugees.

So actually getting here to access the system

is probably the number one hurdle.

And as you may know, in many countries around the world,

people require visas to come to Canada.

And getting that visa is the number one hurdle

to getting here.

Because visa officers will deny someone a visa if they believe

they're coming here to make a refugee claim.

It's one of the ironies of having a strong refugee

protection system in the country,

is that visa officers abroad frequently deny people

access to that system.

I got a invitation letter from an organization in Canada.

Karlene called me one day, and said, "Trudi, this

is what I can do for you.

And, you know, you really deserve to get your break

and come and live your life."

And I went to the interview, and she questioned me,

and the counselor questioned me, and I was granted a visa.

If I can go through all of what I went through here

and still survive, I can do that elsewhere, especially

in a country with a system-- a system

created to protect and help people like myself.

-Bye

Bye.

-If I make a negative decision and decided

that you're not gay, and that it's just fine for you

to go back to the Ukraine, let's say.

So that's been my decision.

I don't know what happens to you.

I don't know if you get sent back in two or three years,

and horrible things happened.

I don't know if-- I would know if my decision was overturned

by the federal court.

I would find that out.

That's the only thing I would find.

If not, after that, I don't know if you've stayed here, gotten

married, and become the president of General Motors.

I wouldn't know about it unless I read it in the newspapers.

So but that's actually-- to my view,

that's even more frightening.

Because it means that if I make mistakes,

the scientific method is, if you make a mistake,

you find your mistake and you correct it.

But I don't know when I've made mistakes.

And quite candidly, the scary part--

I'm sure you've discussed this-- there

are board members that have negative acceptance, well,

negative rates, of over 90%.

And where the average for a particular country

maybe 40% acceptance rate, they have a 2% acceptance rate

for that country.

And quite candidly, I really wonder how they sleep at night.

-Hi, Karlene.

How are you?

-Oh, welcome, welcome, welcome.

Oh, my god.

Let me help you.

-OK.

-OK, all right.

I don't think you're going to manage those.

-OK.

So how was the trip?

-It's good, good.

I slept.

-You slept through it?

-No, not through it.

Remeber, it's my first time traveling alone.

-OK, yeah.

-Of course, I took care of myself with a window seat.

-Oh, my goodness.

So you had fun?

-Yes, I did.

-Oh, good, oh, my goodness.

Because I'm there, sitting, going, "Where is she?

Where is she?

Oh, there she is."

-I think the flight delayed a bit, right?

-Yeah, it was delayed like, almost a half hour.

-Half hour, yeah.

-Yeah, you know, they called me, too, called.

-I know.

I know, I know.

-You get to stay.

-I know it, because my aunts took--

-You're freezing already?

Yeah?

You sure it's cold enough?

Huh?

You're worried?

Are you changing your mind?

-No.

-Oh, OK.

-No.

Wow.

-Be like a baby all over again.

Born again.

Trust me.

Like born again?

Ooh, that's all it is, my dear.

For the next few days, while you're just

gonna get adjusted a little bit, and then Friday

morning, very early, I think we need to wake up like,

at about 6 o'clock--

---so that we can get to the immigration center.

Yeah?

-For you to put in your refugee claim.

-I like it inside, more, Karlene, it's more warm inside.

-Nice and warm inside, I know.

You know, it's always--

-I almost feel the need to take off my coat.

-So when you come, it's always easier, and nicer

when you come.

Well, welcome to my own humble abode

that you'll be sharing with me for a little while, I think.

So this is my little space, and your bedroom.

-One of the critical issues in your case

is going to be establishing your sexual orientation.

So to establish that you are, in fact, a lesbian.

Uh-huh.

-So I want to talk about what documents

we can produce to establish that.

Number one, documenting your relationship with Betty,

if we can do that in any way, would really be helpful.

-Well, I have photos with her and I.

-Could we get a letter from Betty?

I know she's in the states right now.

-Yes, I was wondering if it was possible for her

to come to the hearing with me?

-Absolutely, it is, yeah.

Do you think that she'd be willing to do that?

-She wants to.

-OK.

So I'll propose Betty, then, as a witness at your hearing.

-So we're going to set up for the tax clinic thing.

So there's usually about eight volunteers that come.

So if you just wanna set up two rows

of tables-- one against the wall and one

down the middle of the room with one

or two chairs on either side, then that should be good.

-OK.

-Four of them.

Have you been to our tax clinic yet?

-No.

The Refugee Board likes

to see some objective documentary evidence.

So I frequently encourage my clients

to get involved in the local LGBT community,

not only for their own well being,

but because their participation in the local LGBT community

is also evidence of their sexual orientation.

Some of them develop friendships and relationships

with people in Canada, and those people

can be brought as witnesses to the refugee hearing

to provide testimony about the development

of the relationships.

Photographs of clients who participate in Pride Week

festivities, in Toronto, or Montreal,

or other parts of the country.

It really depends on the particular claimant.

But these are the primary ways that we

establish sexual orientation.

-This is a very confidential space.

So we ask people who do not fit into that category,

if you're not a claimant who has declared their status based

upon sexual or gender identity, you are in the wrong space.

OK?

All right.

So people share stories here that are very personal to them.

And not many people are out in their own communities

outside of the safety of this center and this room.

So we ask that if you see someone

on the street that's a member of your group, make eye contact,

allow that person to say hello, first,

or to at least acknowledge that they'd like to speak to you.

We don't want you to see people in the mall

with their faint-hearted grandmothers

and say, "Oh, I know you from the gay group."

That won't work.

OK, we don't out people.

All right?

So our third rule is that you must attend consistently.

Because most of you are here because want support.

We cannot support you if we do not know you.

So you need to show up, and you need to participate.

We do a variety of things that will call for you to speak,

sometimes to write, or to do anything

that speaks to participating in our group.

OK?

So don't just show up and warm our chair.

Let us get to know you, get bonded with the group

so we can support you as much as we'd really like to.

It's like a life and death situation,

because it is.

If they told me that I'm not accepted,

I mean, I'd just think about going home.

It's like, I'll just do it myself,

because I know they won't do it as clean as I will.

Do you guys have samples

of questions you need help with?

OK, we'll move to that.

Got it?

-We just started.

-You just started?

I'll write that one on the board.

8 and 5/6 and you multiply this by 4, right,

and you got 20, right, over 24.

And you multiply this by 6.

6 and 2 and a quarter.

Take away.

2 and 1/2, did you get it?

-I think so.

-Oh, let me see.

Oh, you counted?

Excellent.

Excellent.

Times 4, nice.

And 4 times 6, right?

So 6, 24, 20, multiply that-- beautiful.

-Preparing a personal information form,

which is provided to the Board, allows a claimant

at their own pace, to describe the basis of their fears.

Sometimes it's difficult for even me, as a trusted counsel,

to elicit all of that information from them.

So sometimes they need to go away and come up

with a statement on their own and bring it back to me.

-Just write.

And write, and write and write, you know?

Maybe things may not come to you in the same order,

but at least remember them and then

afterwards, we can switch them around and put them

in the right order.

So I want to make sure that whatever you're saying,

it's believable, and they should be able to read it and feel

everything that you've been through.

So you have to really, really, go way down.

Things that you have buried, you may have to bring them up.

You'll get past is somehow.

Not fully, but you'll get past it.

And writing it, sometimes, you know,

when you have to reopen these things,

sometimes it makes it even better.

-Uh-huh.

-You know?

-You made me feel a bit better about it.

Still nervous, though.

-Yeah, you're always gonna be nervous.

-Until the moment, right?

-Like I said, you go in there, and you speak clearly,

and you answer your questions, and you listen, and you just

be on point.

Because it's all about clarification.

It's all about what you wrote.

-Uh-huh.

-It's not your deceit.

Because they just want to match with what you saying.

I want you right.

I want to get myself together.

Perfect.

Good.

Still nervous, though.

-Well don't be, basically making sure that your paper is

straight three points, or--

-You said-- did you gather enough evidence, or?

I need to know, because--

-Yeah, well I got--

I'm nervous because I didn't forget a date.

-I gathered my evidence and stuff.

And my-- I had a pretty good lawyer,

he helped me like, a lot.

PETER SHOWLER: The government has introduced a major bill

to reform Canada's refugee system.

Supposedly to limit access to fraudulent claims, but quite

frankly, for almost anybody who wants to come to Canada,

they want to make it more difficult.

-Well, I'm nervous.

-Don't be nervous.

-Until the moment, right?

PETER SHOWLER: The system speeds up a lot-- much too fast.

There simply will not be that opportunity

to tell the story in the way in which there is now.

Perhaps I should say that historically, Canada

has been widely recognized throughout the world

as the model of the system where refugees do have a fair chance

to tell their story.

There are lots of defects in the Canadian system,

but most refugees do get that opportunity.

With this new system, there are far more who really just

don't get the chance to tell their story.

The result of that eventually will

be that more people will be returned to persecution.

-We see cases where they were badly

decided in the first place, they didn't get a fair hearing,

so the other thing that I can do at any time

is apply for to remain in Canada for humanitarian and

compassionate reasons.

So it's not because I fear all these things that will happen

to me for a host of reasons-- either because I'm now

established here in Canada--- and right now,

the delays are four, five, six years before removal--

so I can show, listen, I've had a work permit,

I've now got a really good job.

I'm now married, I have a partner, we're established.

I pay my taxes, I'm a good guy, I go to church-- whatever--

and at the same time, say that there's still

nasty things that will happen to me.

And candidly, one of the factors that they look at

are the political circumstances.

So if there is a lot of focused community support,

that's going to be a factor that they

will look at when they review the case.

[chanting]

CRAIG FORTIER: A massive campaign

throughout the city of Toronto began in order

to try and stop the deportation.

A number of different legal avenues

have been filed, including a humanitarian and compassionate

bill, which we feel Alvaro has a very strong chance of winning

because of his contributions in the arts community,

and the queer community, as well as just

in the general volunteering in the city.

That application should be coming to a decision

sometime very shortly.

MALE SPEAKER: One, two.

Mic check, one, two, two.

Two.

Right now, Alvaro does have an application still

working through the Humanitarian and Compassionate process.

Part of the reason we're all here today

is because that application is really, really contingent

on showing Alvaro's establishment in

-A support group is hoping their signatures

and pleas will stop the deportation of a failed refugee

claimant from Nicaragua.

They gathered to support Alavaro Orosco.

He was denied bail after being arrested last week.

Since 2007, the 25-year-old has been living under a deportation

order after a refugee board claimant

board member doubted his sexual orientation.

Orosco says he left Nicaragua when

he was 12 because he's gay.

Friends of Orosco are trying to establish his involvement

in the community to avoid his deportation.

-The judge, she argue why I didn't have gay friends,

or why I didn't have a boyfriend,

or why I didn't have sex.

So she expected me to have sex at the age of 14

when I was in Mexico or the United States.

He lived in the states as a very poor person,

relying on evangelical churches, living in evangelical churches

for support, relying on people who

are very conservative to give him the basic needs of life,

like shlter, and food, and money.

And it wasn't the place where he could

come out and go and practice his sexuality.

This whole trip up north, to come

to the US and Canada, [inaudible],

in his third world country, that the North is free.

This is where you go for freedom.

This is where you go for refuge.

And if I go there and tell them the story, of course

they're going too help me.

Because that's-- these are the good places in the world where

they protect people like me.

-Since I remember my father, he's

always-- he's always been an alcoholic, for all his life.

So he's a violent man.

He was an abusive as father, abusive husband,

and childhood, who was very violent.

At the same time, I think that he was aware of that I was gay,

so he was very homophobic, because the father would leave

because the father was used to being there every day.

I escape in '98.

I took a map from my geography book.

It show the original Central America,

show Mexico, and show the United States.

And I took it from the book and I started walking.

MALE SPEAKER: The Immigration and Refugee Board

is making a big mistake if they do not grant him

Humanitarian and Compassionate status.

Let Alvaro stay!

I crossed to Guatemala, and I went to the capital city.

And then I start walking to another city called

and I lived there for 3 months.

When I went to Mexico, is a, want you to pay money.

I cross the Rio Grand, the River.

So from Matamoros, it's a small city in Mexico,

to a small city in the United States called Brownsville.

The situation in 2001 with immigration and rights,

and-- it was difficult in Texas.

And at the same time, one day, I was at work

and the Immigration came into my work, and I have to run.

It was difficult to leave, you know, job,

and illegal and confused with the sexuality.

I first found information in the internet about Canada--

I have more rights as a gay man, so for me,

was a big opportunity in coming to Canada.

-You look less stressed.

-Less stress.

This refugee reform really drastically

altered the direction of Canada's refugee policy--

particularly for claimants who claim

that based upon sexual orientation, where they're

really counting on being fully engaged in the community

and making a Humanitarian application,

I think those possibilities as a last ditch means

of saving themselves are going to be far less

available than before.

-All rise.

-Good afternoon.

Bonjour.

Bonjour.

Bonjour.

The citizenship ceremony is now in session.

Please be seated.

Welcome in your country.

Make it a better place.

You have to show it-- The judge is nothing.

The citizenship is.

-It is very touching to hear refugees say, when they arrive,

they came to Canada because they thought

they would get protection-- that they thought

they would get fair treatment.

Now, the reputation slowly going out

is that in actuality, you will not get fair treatment--

that we don't want you to come, and please go somewhere

else to make your refugee case.

And it is a tremendous shame.

Because if Canada cannot offer this kind of generosity--

this country of immigration that we are--

what country possibly can?

-If the member indicates that he doesn't need to hear from you,

then I'll have to come into the hearing

so that you can observe and be there

as a support person for Trudi.

-OK.

-But I wanted to give you a sense

of what kinds of questions I was going to ask you

if you were to participate as a witness.

And the question I'll ask you will

focus on your relationship.

So can we just do kind of a dry run of the types of questions

that I'd be asking you?

BETTY: Uh-huh.

ATTORNEY: Did somebody introduce the two of you?

Or--

BETTY: No, I was standing there like, by myself,

and somebody came and touched me and said

somebody was calling me.

When I looked over, I saw Trudi sort of smile.

Yes.

Went over, we talked for a bit, then, you know, laughed.

Then we went around the back to have a-- talk in quiet.

How many times did you approach

the police for assistance in Jamaica?

-Hmm.

Exactly three.

Three times.

Three, four times, to be exact.

ATTORNEY: Did anything ever come out

of those approaches for assistance?

-Nothing.

None.

Anything that came out was like, disrespect

from the police officers.

ATTORNEY: And why do you think that is?

Why do you think the police didn't offer you assistance?

-Well, first thing, dumb them self.

Like, they're homophobic, as well as the law

states that it's illegal, so it's

a waste of time asking them for help.

JOE ROUSFIELD: This is the decision

in the claim of Trudi Bracy Stewart.

The claimant claims to be a 24-year-old citizen of Jamaica

and requesting refugee protection.

These documents establish that Jamaica

is a deeply homophobic society that still enforces

anti-homosexual legislation, and that has very serious levels

of ongoing anti-homosexual violence and brutality.

These documents further establish that Jamaican gay men

and gay women probably cannot access adequate state

protection, due to the formal illegality of their sexual

orientation, and because of levels of homophobia within

the Jamaican police, which match the homophobia within Jamaican

society as a whole.

Therefore, I find that the Claimant

has a well-founded fear of persecution

in Jamaica by of being a gay woman.

I therefore conclude that the claimant

is a conventional refugee.

Thank you very much.