US Soliders Seek Refugee Status
Find a Conversation
| Mon, 09-27-2004 - 9:01pm |
U.S. soldiers seek refugee status
By TERRI THEODORE
VANCOUVER (CP) - An American soldier who fled to Canada to escape the politics of what he says is an illegal war now hopes politics in this country can save him from being forced back home.
Brandon Hughey, 19, fled Fort Hood, Texas, in March because he said he doesn't believe the U.S. war in Iraq is legal or moral.
He and another U.S. soldier have filed refugee claims, asking to stay in Canada and not be returned to the United States where they could face sentences in a military prison for desertion.
Hughey said at a news conference Friday he believes under international law, he has a strong case for refugee status.
But he's also part of a campaign to get public support on his side, asking Canadians to lobby Ottawa to give safe haven to U.S. soldiers resisting the war in Iraq.
"I'm just asking for their support and hope that they'll pressure the government to allow me to stay because we believe that is what's going to cause them to allow us to stay - pressure from the public and public opinion," Hughey said.
"If there is enough pressure from the people, we believe the Liberals will have to allow us to stay."
He said he's hoping Canadians will get in touch with their MPs and write letters.
Jeremy Hinzman, a U.S. soldier who left his base in North Carolina and came to Canada with his family for the same reason, has a refugee hearing scheduled for next month.
Both soldiers argue that according to the United Nations, soldiers who refuse to fight in a war that has been condemned by the international community have a basis for a refugee claim.
Hinzman is believed to be the first U.S. soldier to apply for refugee status in Canada after refusing combat duty in Iraq.
NDP MP Libby Davies, who represents a Vancouver riding, said given Canada's record of allowing war objectors into the country during the Vietnam era, Canada has a duty to support war resisters.
She said the NDP will be working to bring the issue forward in Parliament.
"I think Canadians were tremendously proud that we made a decision not to participate in the war in Iraq," Davies said.
"I think now faced with the situation of individual soldiers and potentially people that might be drafted at some point - that is not impossible to think about - I think we want to create a political and a legal environment here in Canada where we will say, 'Yes, you have a place here.' "
Critics point out that unlike many draft dodgers from the Vietnam era, Hinzman and Hughey were not drafted but enlisted voluntarily.
Hinzman said he signed up at age 17 when his father took him to a recruiting office, partly because it included a promise of money for education.
He said he knew combat was part of the job, but "I also had a vision in my head of being a big guy and fighting for just causes.
"I believed that I would be defending my country. Obviously, in the case of Iraq, it was an act of aggression with no defensive basis."
He said Iraq was no threat to the United States and no weapons of mass destruction have been found. He called the war a crime against humanity.
"That's not part of defending your country and it's not something I'm not willing to kill someone else or lose my own life for."
Jeff Schutts, a University of British Columbia professor and a former U.S. army officer, also suggested that many who sign up for the U.S. military volunteer their service without knowing all the facts.
People like Hughey are lured by the promise of money for advanced education or by the glamorous image that military recruiters expertly promote.
"Many find themselves in the military in this volunteer system and then change their minds. . . That change of conscience is something that is recognized by the United Nations as a human right."
Hinzman, who fled Fort Bragg in North Carolina, and Hughey, who had been stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, were taken in by Quaker families when they arrived from the U.S.
Hughey remains with the same family, while Hinzman has since moved into an apartment with his wife and their infant son.
He is a popular speaker at anti-war conferences and rallies.
Hughey, who looks younger than his 19 years, said the hardest part of what he is doing has been the separation from his family and the realization he may never again be able to travel to see them.
He said his father, a committed Republican, originally did not support his decision to flee to Canada.
But after researching the war in Iraq, has come to agree with his son.
