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Montréal, 31 oct. 2011– Point de Bascule highlights that Mohamed Zrig, a Muslim Brotherhood candidate in the recent Tunisian elections, still lives in Canada, although all his requests for refugee status and permanent residence have been rejected since 1992. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) invoked Zrig’s association with a terrorist organization to justify its refusals. The IRB stated that Zrig’s organization in Tunisia was involved in acid attacks against individuals, bombings, weapons trafficking, and so forth.

The number of procedures initiated by Mohamed Zrig in order to obtain refugee status, and later, permanent residence, is considerable:

1. 1. In 1992, upon his arrival in Canada, Zrig requested political refugee status. In 1994, the IRB refused Zrig’s request because he had been an accomplice in serious non political crimes in his own country and in Europe.
   2. In 2000, the IRB rejected Zrig’s request for a second time and for the same reasons invoked in 1994.
   3. In 2001, Zrig’s request for a judicial review of the 2000 decision was rejected and he appealed the decision.
   4. In 2003, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Zrig’s appeal.
   5. In 2004, Canadian immigration authorities refused Zrig’s request for permanent residence because there are reasonable grounds to believe that he engages, has engaged or will engage in terrorism.
   6. In 2007, Zrig’s request for permanent residence was rejected once more. He was deemed “inadmissible” for serious crimes.
   7. In 2009, a judicial review of the 2007 decision was denied to Zrig.

On October 8, 2011, during an electoral debate in Montreal, Zrig confirmed that his travel restrictions are not yet lifted. He declared being in possession of a Tunisian passport.

Before arriving in Canada in 1992, Zrig stayed in Hassan Turabi’s Sudan at a time when the country was a base for Islamic terrorism.

In the 2000 case, the IRB recalled that Canada is not obliged to be “the great refugee milch-cow of all the world.”

Today, Mohamed Zrig’s life is not threatened by Tunisian authorities, as he was trying to get elected at his country’s Constituent Assembly. If there were humanitarian reasons not to expel him to Tunisia, they no longer apply.

More information about Mohamed Zrig’s background is available at PointdeBascule.ca.

PointdeBascule.ca is a non partisan, independent organization that opposes radical Islam by describing the means and methods that Islamists are using to implement their program in Canada.

Information

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Montréal, Québec
www.pointdebascule.ca

Further Reading

Point de Bascule Mohamed Zrig: An Accomplice of Terrorists and a Muslim Brotherhood candidate to Represent Canada at the Tunisian Constituent Assembly 27 Octobre 2011