A group of more than a dozen local protesters gathered in front of Canada Place yesterday to oppose last week’s crackdown on migrant workers in the Toronto area.
One of the protesters, Lynn Sutankayo, said the whole purpose of the demonstration is to send a message to the Canadian government that the raids are not okay with Canadian citizens.
“We are demanding that they immediately release the detained workers,” she said.
Just under 100 migrant workers were arrested and detained on April 2 in the Greater Toronto Area. Canadian officials have stated that the arrests were made as a result of a three-month investigation into illegal immigration at the Canadian Border Services Agency.
“It’s really a brutal treatment of people who really just want to be a part of our country, like so many before them,” Sutankayo said. “We’re supposed to be the land of immigrants and supporting multiculturalism.”
Although the raids occurred across the country, Sutankayo said the event hits home for many of the protesters, whose family members have immigrated from faraway countries. She believes that all of the people who live and work here should be granted status as legal immigrants without having to deal with the government’s judgment.
“There’s no such thing as an illegal human being, so we are asking that those who are being detained will be immediately released and granted immigration status,” she said. “The government needs to stop trying to categorize people into legal and not legal and recognize us all as human beings.”
