October 27, 2024
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Government of Canada
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Dear Ministers,
Re: Francesca Albanese
We, the undersigned immigration and refugee lawyers, request that you invoke the powers given to you by law to prevent the entry to Canada for the intended visit of Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For information about her intended visit, see https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-campus-tour-toronto-tickets-1048239431357
Francesca Albanese has in the past justified the October 7th massacre by Hamas in Israel in which Hamas slaughtered 1,195 innocents and kidnapped 251 others, only 117 of whom Hamas has since released; 37 hostages have died; 101 remain in captivity. She would presumably on entry to Canada at the invited venues repeat this justification.
The justification Albanese has given for this atrocity is below. The link is this:
https://twitter.com/USAmbHRC/status/1757103240817078396/photo/1
Ambassador Michele Taylor, the US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Ambassador Taylor said:
“Francesca Albanese has a history of using antisemitic tropes. Her most recent statements justifying, dismissing, & denying the antisemitic undertones of Hamas’ October 7 attack are unacceptable & antisemitic. We expect more of independent UN experts and condemn all forms of antisemitism.”
The link to her statement is this:
https://twitter.com/USAmbHRC/status/1757103240817078396
Albanese is also the author of a standard antisemitic trope, set out below. The link is this: https://x.com/USAmbHRC/status/1603091256082563075
Both France and Germany have condemned Ms. Albanese’s bigotry. The French statement was this:
“Le massacre du 7 octobre est le plus grand massacre antisémite du 21e siècle. Le contester est une faute. Sembler le justifier, en y mêlant le nom des Nations Unies, est une honte. Ces propos sont d’autant plus scandaleux que la lutte contre l’antisémitisme et toutes les formes de racisme sont au cœur de la fondation de l’ONU.”
The link to the French statement is this:
The German statement is this:
“To justify the horrific terror attacks of 7/10 & deny their antisemitic nature is appalling. Making such statements in a UN capacity is a disgrace and goes against everything the United Nations stand for.”
The link to the German statement is this:
https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1756674368606736529
Francesca Albanese may be coming into Canada on a diplomatic passport. If so, she can and should be denied entry simply by being declared a persona non grata under the Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act.
If Albanese is coming on her national passport she can and should be denied admission to Canada on the basis that her antisemitic statements are criminal hate speech and advocacy of genocide in her country of nationality, Italy, and would be also an offence in Canada if these remarks had been made in Canada.
British politician George Galloway, after having expressed views far less inciteful than those expressed by Francesca Albanese, planned in 2009 to come to Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) concluded that there were reasonable grounds to find that Galloway would be inadmissible to Canada should an officer decide to do so. Galloway, after that assessment was made, did not come to Canada. The CBSA conclusion was challenged in Court unsuccessfully. See Toronto Coalition to Stop the War v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2010 FC 957), [2012] 1 FCR 413.
Once the US, Germany and France have spoken out against the remarks of Albanese, Canada should not remain silent. As France has noted, the February 2024 remarks of Albanese are particularly problematic because she had made them under United Nations aegis. Canada should not be giving Albanese a platform to repeat remarks she should not have made.
For media inquiries, email: lawyers4secureimmigration@gmail.com
Click here to download a PDF of this press release.
