Global Climate Legal Defense Calls on Canada to End Deportation of Pakistani Student and Climate Activist
NEW YORK, NY (March 26, 2024) – Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) calls on Canada to halt the deportation of Zain Haq, a 23-year-old Vancouver-based and Pakistani-born climate defender. Haq is set to be deported on April 22 by the Canadian Border Services Agency, after participating in several peaceful protests about Canada’s climate policies.
If the deportation proceeds, Haq will be one of the first people in North America removed from a country because of his climate activism. This is particularly troubling for two reasons. The right to freedom of expression applies to Canadian citizens and non-citizens alike, and has been judicially recognized as fundamental to democracy in the country. Additionally, Canada is the site of twelve massive fossil fuel reserves known as “carbon bombs,” which could emit as much as 39 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Rather than partnering with advocates after last summer’s catastrophic Canadian wildfires (costing over $720 million in damages), Canada is seeking to deport a foreign student for peaceful climate activism.
CliDef, a legal NGO that also funds climate advocates’ legal defense, is supporting local lawyers in Haq’s case. CliDef works in many parts of the world where students, scientists, journalists and parents alike are demanding climate action. Silencing Haq by deporting him is part of an alarming trend in which governments and corporations are weaponizing the law against climate defenders to protect the status quo.
“Canada’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is ambitious and it needs people like Zain to keep the pressure on. Rather than deporting him, the Canadian government should be extending a hand because Zain, as a respected youth activist, is a bridge to the future,” noted Betsy Apple, Executive Director of CliDef and North American Lead Lawyer. “Silencing him won’t change the fact that young people are one of Canada’s greatest assets in the struggle against climate change, and they aren’t going away.”
In 2021, Haq pled guilty to five mischief counts related to the blocking of several roadways in Metro Vancouver — a non-violent protest against oil pipelines and old-growth logging. While dozens of other climate defenders were present and charged, Haq’s case is different because he is not a citizen of Canada, and is in the country on a temporary student visa.
“The real threats to our climate and our countries are not advocates like Zain, and we hope the Canadian government will recognize the value of climate activism before it’s too late,” said Apple. “With limited time for the world and Canada to meet climate goals, let’s use the law to speed up our energy transition, not to repress those peacefully demanding a clean energy future.”
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About CliDef
Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef) emboldens climate defenders to act by providing legal support. We offer legal advice, coordination, and funds for legal defense and strengthen a community of diverse lawyers and legal organizations to serve the climate movement. To learn more, please visit our website: www.climatelegaldefense.org
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