by KEN HECHTMAN

"They'll say you're a spy, they can kill you in a second and no one will ask questions."

Palestinian refugee "Sami" - who would not give his real name for fear of possible repercussions - described the dangers of his homeland to a public assembly at Concordia University last Sunday, May 4. He faces deportation back to a world of violence, poverty and repression. His story sounds familiar enough, except that Sami isn't from Gaza or the West Bank, he's from the Burj Al-Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon, and the villains of his account aren't the Israeli army but the press-gangs of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

According to Rabia Masri, organizer for the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees, there are at least 120 young Palestinian men that he knows of in Ottawa and Montreal with the same problem. Facing a rejection rate at the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) nearing 100 per cent, they approached the first-year Ottawa University law student and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) activist who helped them form an organization to negotiate with the federal Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. They got a meeting with the Montreal regional director of the IRB and the chance to give background information on the Palestinians' situation in Lebanon - background information they say was sorely needed by some of the refugee commissioners.

"They have no idea what's going on in Lebanon," says "Mohammed," another refugee afraid to give his real name, as it might affect the outcome of his claim. "If the judge says I can work there, the judge is wrong. I can't get a work permit and even with one, any decent job behind a desk - you can't get that. Unskilled labour is the only job open," referring to the legal prohibition barring foreigners - and Lebanon considers Lebanese-born Palestinians foreigners - from over 70 professions and skilled trades.

Former Union des forces progressistes candidate and noted activist Amir Khadir, sitting at the back of the assembly, notes that refugee commissioners are political patronage appointments.

"It's mesmerizing to see the level of ignorance," he says. "It's the only area where Canadians can pass judgements on the lives of others with absolutely no legal training or background knowledge," he says.

The problem that remains unsolved after educating the refugee commissioners is that they have no power to review the 40 rejections already made or stop the 10 deportations already ordered. Only the federal Minister of Immigration Denis Corderre can do that and so far they haven't been able to present their case to him. They're hoping for a side-deal with Quebec Immigration, similar to the one offered to the non-status Algerian last winter, in which they can apply as immigrants without having to leave Quebec to do so. According to Mohammed, most of the 10 refugees ordered out have gone into hiding rather than be deported.

"We came here for justice," he says, "and they still have hope for it. They don't think this is over just because the Immigration Ministry says it is."