Canadian Citizenship

I've been discussing the case of Kevin, the Canadian-born, Canadian citizen, of Iranian parents, who have recently been turned over to Canadian authorities following their incarceration at the Hutto Detention Centre in Texas. Kevin was born in Canada while his parents attempted to gain refugee status in Canada, claiming persecution in Iran. Their refugee application had been rejected by Immigration Canada and they had been sent back to Iran where the family claims they suffered imprisonment and torture, prompting them to attempt another escape. They travelled under counterfeit passports but were detained during an unscheduled stop in the United States, and that's where the story was until Canadian bloggers picked up on their plight and mounted a campaign for Kevin and his family's release.

I guess I should point out that it's pretty much been "progressive" Canadian bloggers who have been involved in all the recent efforts to rescue Canadians trapped in difficult political circumstances lately. The other example is the campaign to evacuate Canadians from Lebanon when it was being bombarded by Israel.

Then, as now, it also appears that it was "conservative" bloggers who were either indifferent to Kevin's plight, or downright hostile (during the Lebanon crisis) at the idea of expending Canadian resources to save "Canadians of convenience."

For my part, it feels a little arbitrary to mobilize myself for human beings whom I've never met, simply because they have Canadian citizenship. By that, I don't mean that I thought Kevin should stay in Hutto being treated like a criminal until he and his family were sent back to Iran and god knows what. I don't mean that I wanted those Lebanese-Canadians to remain trapped under the falling missiles of Israeli warplanes. If anything, I'd like to see all of those "illegal" aliens at Hutto who are simply looking for a better life for themselves and their families to be set free. I would have liked to have been able to help all of the people trapped in Lebanon. Privileging some people for their possession of a Canadian passport just seems a little artificial.

But, were it not for those Canadian passports, or that inherent Canadian citizenship, their would be no legal hook to hang their claim to our compassion (more accurately the compassion of our government) and therefore, compassionate people would have no ability to help anyone whatsoever.

So, while it seems a little strange, a little bit bizarre and Kafka-esque, to mount campaigns to save people by virtue of a shared identity with the temporary phenomenon of the nation-state of Canada, in this often cold, heartless world, we should use whatever tools we have available to do what good that we can.