Wahid Khalil Baroud (وحيد خليل بارود), a Palestinian alleged member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Force 17, was arrested in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, after it was claimed that he served as a bodyguard to PLO leader Yasser Arafat and engaged in coordinating PLO terrorist acts, and was a threat to Canadian national security.Kezwer, Gil, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Deportation slated for former Arafat guard, June 23, 1995 He was subsequently deported.

Immigration to Canada

Baroud was a member of Al Fatah, but testified that he left the organization in October 1990.

In 1991, Baroud took his wife and three children to Greece. They then flew into Canada's Pearson International Airport with forged Egyptian passports, and applied for Canadian residency. The family, which would grow with the births in Canada of two more children, claimed to be Israeli, but Baroud acknowledged he had spent time in Fatah, saying that he had never been involved in any terrorism. He claimed to be defecting because he refused to follow an order to travel to Saudi Arabia's border with Iraqi-controlled Kuwait, where some allege he had been ordered to be killed by the PLO authorities. He stated that, as a Palestinian, he refused to be a party to another occupying power like Saddam Hussein.Aiken, Sharryn. "Manufacturing Terrorists: Refugees, National Security and Canadian Law", Part 2.Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "Caught in a legal swamp Ex-PLO member spends year in jail seeking `justice'", June 4, 1995

He was held in detention for 41 days before it was determined he was not a threat, and he was subsequently released.Hughes, Jane. "Detention of Asylum-seekers in Europe", p. 117

Arrest

Three years later, after he missed two immigration hearings which he claimed to have never received notice of, an arrest warrant was issued and he was declared a threat to Canadian national security under the auspice that he had served in Fatah's Force 17 as a bodyguard to Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, and was stationed in Syria, Lebanon, Libya, and Greece and engaged in coordinating PLO terrorist acts. He was arrested on a security certificate signed by Canadian Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi and Solicitor General Herb Gray based on information provided by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on June 6, 1994.Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "`Deported' Arab stuck in jail limbo", June 14, 1995

Pursuant to the Immigration Act, the certificate was referred to the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, to determine whether the certificate should be quashed. There, on May 31, 1995, Judge Pierre Denault declined to quash the certificate. Judge Denault held that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Baroud is or was a member of an organization that there were reasonable grounds to believe is or was engaged in terrorism.Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "Jailed Palestinian set to leave Canada", July 5, 1995 Baroud argued that section 40.1 of the Immigration Act was unconstitutional and breached the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Baroud (Re) (1995), 98 F.T.R. 99 (F.C.T.D.), at paragraph 23. Note 7.

When the Canadian courts upheld his deportation, he sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, claiming that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had tried to convince him to become an informant and turned against him when he refused, but was denied on June 15.Baroud v. MCI, 1995. 22 O.R. (3rd), Part 4, 255. Ontario, Canada "Depressed and discouraged" at his long time spent in the Toronto Don Jail, Baroud agreed to voluntarily drop his appeals and allow himself to be removed from Canada and was subsequently moved to Toronto West Detention Centre.

Deportations His wife and three eldest children were granted refugee status in Canada.JWeekly, World Report, November 3, 1995

Since he was a stateless Palestinian, there was no country to which he could be safely deported, and his wife ended up acquiring an entry visa for him to Algeria, and he was put on a plane to Algeria on July 5, but returned to Canada a week later after Algerian authorities refused to let him enter.Kitchener Record, "Former PLO member shares time with family before deportation", July 6, 1995Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "Palestinian back in Canada; Algeria refuses deported man entry", July 12, 1995Mallan, Caroline. Toronto Star, "Deported man finally leaves; Palestinian flies to Algeria after 13 months in jail", July 6, 1995 It was later revealed that his Canadian escorts had taken him to Casablanca hoping to leave him in Morocco; but while they were themselves "mistakenly left behind" in the North African country, Baroud had simply booked himself a plane back to Canada.Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "Add Casablanca saga to Palestinian's odyssey", July 13, 1995

In December 1995, his wife secured a 9-month visa for him to the Sudan, and Canada put him on a plane towards the country - however, Sudan refused to accept him when they learned of the case.Thompson, Allan. Toronto Star, "Palestinian hustled to plane, deported", December 22, 1995 He was forced to live in airports for eight months, shuttling between countries.Jackman, Barbara, Proceedings of the Special Senate Committee on the Anti-terrorism Act, May 30, 2005

Some sources suggest he ended up in Syria.Bell, Colleen. Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Subject to Exception: Security Certificates, National Security and Canada's Role in the "War on Terror", 2006. Baroud later flew to Romania where he lived in the airport for a number of months before finding his way to Switzerland where he appealed to the Supreme Court for the right to remain. He finally settled in Belgium and is welcomed as a Belgian citizen.

References Notes