wfn.org | Canadian Visa Refusals May Exclude Delegations from LWF Assembly

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Refusal to Grant Canadian Visas May Lead to Exclusion of Church
Delegations from the LWF Tenth Assembly
General Secretary Ishmael Noko Says Authorities' Actions are
Inconsistent with Canada's International Role

GENEVA, 24 June 2003 (LWI) - Will parts of the worldwide
constituency of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) be excluded
from the LWF Tenth Assembly, due to take place in Winnipeg,
Canada, 21-31 July 2003?

As the LWF leadership and Assembly host, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada (ELCIC), prepare to receive more than 800
international participants from the Federation's global network,
the LWF is receiving frequent reports of rejected visa
applications. About 35 percent of invited participants require
visas to enter Canada.

So far, participants from Bangladesh, Colombia, the Czech Republic
and Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, Sierra Leone and
Tanzania are known to have been affected. Four out of the five
invited participants from Bangladesh and the entire delegation
from Sierra Leone, as well as high-ranking church leaders from
other countries - have had their visa applications rejected.
Others include an LWF Council member and a staff person.

"This is a matter of great concern," says LWF General Secretary,
Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko. "The ELCIC National Bishop Raymond L.
Schultz has requested a meeting with the Minister for Citizenship
and Immigration, but has not been granted the courtesy of a
hearing," Noko notes.

"In each of the current cases, only a generic list of reasons was
given for the rejections," says Peter Prove, Assistant to the
General Secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights at
the LWF. "We fear that the visa applications of participants from
a number of other countries may suffer the same fate."

The Assembly is an important event in the life of the LWF. It is
its highest decision-making body and is convened only once every
six years. Out of the LWF's 136 member churches, 133 are entitled
to send a designated number of delegates to participate in making
commitments and setting the organization's priorities for the next
six-year period. The previous Assembly was held in Hong Kong,
China in July 1997, a few days after the return of the territory
to Chinese rule. The Chinese authorities granted entry visas to
all of the participants on that occasion.

"We are deeply disappointed," says Prove. "Canada's international
reputation for openness and its progressive approach to many
burning global issues made it seem an ideal place to meet, under
the Assembly theme 'For the Healing of the World'." The Government
of Canada has decided to issue a commemorative stamp in
recognition of the Assembly and its theme. Noko points out that
"on  the other hand, the Canadian authorities are denying entry to
whole or substantial parts of national delegations to the
Assembly."

Noko, himself previously a resident of Canada for six years,
describes the authorities' actions in refusing entry to Assembly
participants from certain countries as inconsistent with what he
knows of Canada's international role. "Leading Canadian political
figures including former prime ministers like John Diefenbacker,
Lester Pearson and Elliot Trudeau have championed the cause of
developing countries, and in international relations Canada has
long been a spokesperson for those without a voice." He stresses
that in denying visas to applicants from certain countries,
"Canada is creating a situation in which representatives of
churches predominantly in the North  will be able to participate
in the Assembly in Winnipeg, while those from mainly developing
countries in the South will be missing."

So far, the Canadian Government has not responded to any of
several LWF interventions. In particular, a letter sent by the LWF
general secretary on May 28 to the Minister for Citizenship and
Immigration, Denis Coderre, appealing to him to use his influence
"to ensure that delegates and invited participants to the LWF
Assembly are given the opportunity to come to Canada in order to
work together" remains unanswered. In his letter, Noko also
informed Coderre that "there has never been a single incident of
an Assembly delegate failing to abide by entry conditions with
regard to length of authorized stay" since the first LWF Assembly
in Lund, Sweden in 1947.

Noko points out that "the Canadian authorities have been kept
informed from a very early date about the plans for the LWF
Assembly." He notes that the local organizing committee has been
in touch with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, CIC, Ottawa
office for over a year in order to familiarize Coderre's
department with the upcoming LWF event. Updated lists of names of
the expected participants have been provided periodically by the
committee. Moreover, assurances have been given of the LWF's
financial and practical responsibility for the participants
attending the Assembly, and for their return home at its
conclusion.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of a article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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