savethesheikh.com

Sydney, March 15:  The Australian children of a moderate Shia Muslim cleric who is facing deportation have appealed for their parents to be allowed to stay in this country.

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei has submitted a final appeal to Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans to reconsider his deportation, originally scheduled for Friday.

The deportation would split the family, with Dr and Mrs Leghaei and their 20 year-old son, Ali, being forced to return to Iran and their 14 year old daughter, Fatima, and two older sons remaining in Australia.

Fatima, who was born in St George Hospital Kogarah in 1995, has sent a letter to Senator Evans describing  how the anxiety and uncertainty over the threat of deportation have impacted the entire family.

“I am proud of my father and all that he stands for… He has taught me to love who and what I am and where I am,” she wrote to Senator Evans.

“As an Australian I have the right to live in my country with my family. I deserve the love and support of a father.”

Although Dr Leghaei  has lived in Australia for 16 years, his application for residency has been denied due to two adverse security assessments made by ASIO several years ago.

Dr Leghaei strenuously denies that he has ever been a threat to national security.

His bid to remain in Australia is backed by a large group of multi faith supporters, including Anglican, Catholic, indigenous and other community leaders in inner Western Sydney.

Dr Leghaei leads the 1500-member Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood and is the elected head of the local Interfaith Committee.  A moderate Shia and Australia’s only English speaking Iranian cleric, his community work involves youth outreach, marriage counseling and online university education.

Dr Leghaei and his family are available for interview.  Media can apply through a comment on this post.

Sheikh Mansour was quite excited when he rang me to tell me that the Immigration Department was giving him a Tribunal hearing where he could appeal to have his security assessment reviewed.  I thought it sounded like a great opportunity too, and happily accepted his invitation to attend the hearing with him and speak as a character witness.  It appears now though that the hearing was simply a proceedural requirement whereby the Department could rubber-stamp the Sheikh’s deportation order!

I was one of a number of persons who spoke passionately in support of the Sheikh.  The Tribunal officer, I thought, could not but be impressed by the testimonies he heard.  Surely he would recognise Mansour as a man of peace and integrity, and reject the negative security assessment that was given him so many years ago.

But as a legal expert later explained to me, ‘why would he do that?’ The Tribunal officer is just another cog in the machine.  It’s not really his place to question assessments made by ASIO.  In theory, he could go out on a limb and challenge the national security services on their assessment, but why would he do that?  Do we really expect him to put at risk his job and his reputation for the sake of an Iranian cleric?

And so the appeal was rejected, and the machinery of deportation grinds on towards its seemingly inevitable conclusion!  Is there anything left for us to do in the name of justice and for the sake of both Sheikh Mansour and our broader community?

Of course there is:

1. Firstly, if you personally know the Sheikh and know him to be a man of peace and integrity, sign this petition.
2. Write to the Minister for Immigration, Senator Chris Evans.  If you can get your letter completed before Friday February 26 2010, forward it to the Imam Husain Islamic Centre andit will be added to 100’s of others that will be presented to the Minister en masse.  Otherwise send it directly Parliament House, Canberra.
3. Pray.  We could do with some intervention from the Almighty!

Sheikh Mansour is a personal friend of mine who I hold very close to my heart.  And yet this case is about more than just the victimisation of one good man.  It reflects very seriously on the Australian justice system, where it’s now legal to deny someone justice because they are not an Australian citizen.

Moreover, the deportation of Sheikh Mansour will not only be a tragedy for his immediate family but a significant loss to our whole community, and a big step backwards in the work of building relationships of mutual understanding and respect between the Islamic and non-Islamic communities of Sydney.