Two more US war resisters have been put on notice of deportation from Canada, where they have sought refuge.
On 8 October, US Iraq war resister Patrick Hart, his wife Jill and son Rian were told that they had to voluntarily leave Canada or be deported to the United States on 30 October.
The next day, Matt Lowell, of London, Ontario, was ordered to leave Canada by 28 October.
Patrick Hart is a former sergeant and a nine-year veteran of the US military. After serving one tour of duty in the Middle East as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he decided that he could no longer take part in the illegal and unwarranted military occupation.
He and his family moved to Toronto in August 2005.
After Matt Lowell joined his military unit in 2002, when he was 18 years old, he developed legal and other objections to the Iraq war. After twice going “absent without official leave” (AWOL), and being re-captured, he finally left the army for Canada in November 2005.
As PN went to press, protests were taking place to try to prevent these deportations.
Over 150 US GIs have publicly refused military service rather than fight in Iraq or Afghanistan, and an estimated 200 Iraq war resisters are residing in Canada.