Escalating tensions hitting close to home for Iranian-Canadians in North Vancouver
Credit to Author: Matt Robinson| Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2020 01:25:35 +0000
Iranian-Canadians in this region expressed concern Monday over reported troubles people of Iranian descent are having at the Canada-U.S. border.
The reports of lengthy delays and intensive security checks at the Peace Arch border crossing came shortly after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general in an airstrike in Baghdad, triggering vows of retaliation.
The escalating international tensions and on-the-ground consequences were on the lips of many people in North Vancouver, where as many as one-in-five in some neighbourhoods identify as Iranian-Canadian.
Some, like Reza Varasteh, the manager of Vanak Market and Deli, expressed little concern over the killing, but consternation over deteriorating economic conditions and restricted freedoms in Iran.
Others declined to speak on the record, citing concerns for relatives, or fears that their thoughts could lead to troubles of their own at international border crossings.
Varasteh, who came to North Vancouver 27 years ago from Mashhad, a populous city in northeast Iran, said many of his customers have been talking about the U.S. border delays. For him, it is typical that the consequences of high politics and interstate conflict are most felt by everyday people.
“Every time this stuff is happening, like U.S. putting sanctions on Iran, it’s affecting normal peoples’s lives. It doesn’t affect the government,” he said.
Reza Varasteh in action at the Vanak Market and Deli.
Asked how he felt about the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, Varasteh said Soleimani, as a member of the Iranian government, was not a good person.
Varasteh referenced reported killings, mass demonstrations, and economic hardship in Iran in recent years. “People, they don’t like this government. And this government, they are not part of the people,” he said.
But the killing won’t do anything to improve their lives, he said.
Ali Safari, who was making sangak bread in a large oven in the back of the Afra Bakery and Market in North Vancouver, said he doesn’t like to talk about politics.
Asked about the border problems, he said merely that there are good and bad people everywhere.
“You can’t say everybody in Iran is good people, and you can’t say all of them is bad people,” he said.
Afshin Nejad working in the Afra Bakery.
Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer whose practice in Blaine, Wash., specializes in cross-border issues, said several of his clients — some living in Canada, all of Persian descent — were made to wait for upwards of five hours and answer unusually intrusive questions Saturday before being allowed into the U.S. They include an Iranian-born naturalized U.S. citizen and a Canadian resident who holds a green card in order to work south of the border, he said.
Saunders said when he visited the Peace Arch on Saturday afternoon he saw between 75 and 100 people waiting to be processed. Posts on social media reported delays that lasted as long as eight to 10 hours.
Customs and Border Protection has denied detaining or refusing entry to any Iranian-Americans at the border as a result of their country of origin. It does, however, acknowledge operating under an “enhanced posture” as a result of the current threat environment.
Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said Monday that U.S. border personnel operate under broad guidelines and have a lot of latitude when it comes to deciding who is allowed into the country.
“I think that given the circumstances over the last week I think that they’re probably operating at a heightened sense of concern right now relative to activities that might take place,” Heyman said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were additional interviews, additional time taken to understand the background of everyone who crosses the border at this moment.
“That’s just, unfortunately, the outcome of what has taken place in Iraq.”