employment history (curriculum vitae) in Israel and Canada reflects persecutions and rises potential employers'
questions, which can not be answered - because no employer will hire a persecuted person 9) Their health is
constantly declining; and so on... There are hundreds of other objective reasons.
Subjective reasons are: 1) Some suggestions could tell that Immigration intervenes in Leo's attempts to find a
better work, not recommending his potential employers to hire him 2) Without the status Leo can not get the
license to teach music, can not run his small busyness, can not be employed in his profession 3) When he
once received a request to compose music for a performance - and did it, - he was then rejected because "it is
not possible to have the name of somebody who's not accepted by the state on public place" 4) He once was
admitted to a Jewish choral, but later was refused "because if he could claim a refugee status from Israel, he's
an enemy of Israel"! 5) When the Russian school "Fillipok" (now renamed and called "Gramota") was in a
desperate need of a Russian speaking music teacher - even then Leo was refused on political ground 6)
Russian newspapers in Montreal refuse to publish not just his articles but even his adds; for example,
Info-Bulletin's editor/publisher told him that she lived many years in Israel, and Leo's articles published in
ex-USSR and in Israel with critics of the Israeli human rights situation abused her patriotism: that's why she
refused to place his adds! 7) All potential employers who could hire him as a musician used to say that they
knew or heard about his "anarchism" - and did not want to employ him because of that. When he responded
that he's not an anarchist or terrorist but a human rights activist they said that for them it is just the same 8) Leo
are refused even a voluntary performances, even without being paid. Rozhinsky, the organizer of the "Russian
Winter" musical festival, is permanently restricting Leo from the festival because of the political reasons 9) Leo
completed a course of security agents but was refused a license because of his immigration situation 10) Leo
was many times refused employment in computer technology, HTML programming, computer networks or
computer rooms maintenance, programs installation or software testing because he's "a kind of hacker or
terrorist". Nobody never told him where they obtained that referral from. Even such enterprises as Copie
Express refused to employ him! 11) Leo did thousands attempts to find a full time above minimum wage work
and was never hired. He believes that all such persecutions are somehow conducted from Immigration and
from Jewish environment 12) From all newspapers where Leo turned to as a journalist (such as Globe and Mail
- for example) he never received any answer or opinion about submitted articles; they just ignored him! Even
when he tried to reach the newspapers by telephone, he used to be disconnected! 13) Leo is one of probably
10 most important Russian vanguard poets in the world. However, an attempt to publish his book (for his own
money!) of poetry was turned away by a Russian publishing house. In the same time the above mentioned
Rozhinsky, who's not even a poet, rather an amateur on a primitively and law scale, published a book of his
"poetry" without any problem! 14) By suppressing and persecuting such a gifted, talented in many areas person
as Leo Gunin Canada lost an opportunity to use his talents, skills and abilities! Because Leo is a famous,
well-known personality, people will consider about Canada after attitude to him. Inhuman, cruel, humiliative
approach towards Leo and his family will speak by itself.
B. Financial disaster:
Because almost 6 years Gunins were refused the status in Canada, they had to pay more in taxes, pay for
various immigration programs, for employment and student authorization, for immigration lawyers, and so on.
They also were not receiving children allowances and other benefits, which landed immigrants and citizens are
receiving. Because Leo was in reality restricted from his profession (music), journalism and all areas, which
require professional skills, he could work for minimum wage only. The lack of status in Canada is also one of
the main factors in Gunins better employment attempts failure. The family's financial situation is devastating and
tragic!
C. Health declining:
A number of descriptions of their health problems in result of persecutions can be found from the page
http://www.total.net/~leog/Rights/LevGunin/appealX.htm Besides, both Leo and Alla have a kind of depression,
caused by the status in Canada denial and other persecutions. D. Children suffering: The children (13 and 14
years old) suffer from the same reasons as the adults. They afraid of their unstable situation, afraid of bringing in
the post because there could be a punishing message from Immigration. They are very suppressed or even
depressed. They feel like they are not like other children but excluded from the normal society. They also
complex and feel uneasy about their poverty. They feel deprived and discriminated because other children can
visit a cafe or McDonald, or a cinema, or their parents have cars, and so on. Because the children understand
that their poverty is much related to persecutions they feel unprotected and threatened. Several times
Immigration threatened the children that they will be expelled from school. Marta is a talented ballerina. She
participated in movies, in dozens of ballet and theatre performances, she also writes poetry and prose, and
she's a painter. She's also a gifted viola player. However, she has no rights to study, and her parents must pay
for any official ballet studies several times more then if they were landed immigrants or citizens, what is
impossible. No sponsor will give money for a child without the status. On television and in movies, where Marta
participated, she was always on the back - probably because of the same reason. Ina is a gifted piano player,
each year she's passing exams at university with the best remarks. She's also composes and arranges music,
she's a good music theoretician, a choral singer, plays also flute, writes poetry and prose. Ina has participated in
dozens of cultural events and performances as a member of one of the best tremble chorales in the world, as a
piano player, was on television and took one of the awards as a piano player on young piano players' festival. In
the same time she has no piano (!) - because Immigration is sacking all financial resources away from the
family! And because her parents are persecuted and deprived.
That text was prepared by Lushin Valery Stepanovich
From Lev GUNIN
Lev GUNIN
3455 rue Aylmer, app. 201
Montreal, QUEBEC
H2X 2B5
Tel. (514) 499-1294 [leog@total.net] more details: http://www.interlog.com/~syedma/dstand/leo201127.html
Dear Sir, Lady!
We need an urgent help regarding incredible violations of our human rights. Please, inform us - if you can, - 1) what we can do, 2)
where to turn, 3) what tools we could use to fight this outrage injustice. Please, help! The most dangerous and alarming is the
manipulation of the medical data and medical personnel by Immigration. You'll find a short description of our tremendously huge
(long) story here below.
I am a human-rights activist, journalist and historian with numerous publications. My views and humanitarian activities made me a
target for persecutions in ex-USSR and - later (after deportation) - in another country, where I was taken together with my family
against our will. Our refugee claim was refused under exceptional circumstances and with a totally partial attitude. Decisions in our
case were unfair, inhuman and unjust. While hearing and proceeding our refugee claim Immigration officials have used illegal
methods, abuse of justice and human rights. On top of undeniable persecutions, an obvious fact that we had no place where to go
and tons of our documentary proof justice was denied to us in many outraged ways. We have appealed the decision, but the IRB's
(Immigration's) defender has emphasized security and other unconventional questions, and the Federal court closed our case.
During our refugee hearings the IRB's judge, Mr. Boiron said that we could face the same persecutions, which we had before, in
Canada as well. It was a threat.
Now we are more then 6 years in a limbo, administrative mayhem and ultra-vulnerable state. That is damaging our mental and
physical health, social and professional status, and chances to regain our professional domain and return to normal life. However, in
spite of human rights deniers in IRB and other departments, pro-Israeli lobby (with their people in Immigration), which goal is to keep
refugee claimants from Israel out of Canada, we received a positive decision. We highly appreciate that in spite of everything we
were granted the landed immigrant status in response to our humanitarian appeal 1 (one) year ago.
In the same time some opponents of this decision did not ceased their pressure. They did not want to allow us to receive the landed
immigrant's papers. In attempts to put us down they started to destroy me, my family, ours lives before we could receive the status in
Canada. Each routine immigration procedure - extension of the employment or student authorization, etc. - turned into a mockery
and humiliation. We must fight for every small thing, which has to be proceeded automatically! Especially after we were given the
Certificat de selectione du Quebec: more then eight (8) months ago. Unnecessary expensive medical exams (Immigration has
pretended that lost our medical data) and other innumerous humiliations made our life unbearable. They combined my mother's
and mine cases in Immigration's computer, when in reality my mother's case has nothing to do with our case. (She's a sponsored
spouse of a Canadian citizen - since November 1998, - and we were accepted by the humanitarian appeal). Immigration officer
Madam Helene ROY illegally intervened in the medical issues to torpid my mother's case, and on her request Mrs. W. BRZEZINSKA
(M.D.) made a false report before my mother's medical evaluation for Immigration took place. Madame ROY refused to recognize
my mother's marriage "because of the medical concerns" the next day suddenly replacing this negative decision by another one.