U.S. Iraqi war veteran marks five years in sanctuary at East Vancouver church

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It is a Saturday afternoon and about 15 people have gathered in the unassuming boardroom of an East Vancouver church. There are snacks, and performances by the local chapter of a satirical musical group called the Raging Grannies, but the mood is more hopeful than celebratory, more determined than fun.

The group has gathered to mark the five-year anniversary of U.S. Iraqi war veteran Rodney Watson taking up sanctuary in that very church. It comes as Canada sends about 70 soldiers to northern Iraq to combat the Islamic State militant group.

"Everyone agrees that it's really important for us to keep doing this," said Sarah Bjorknas, an organizer with Vancouver's chapter of the War Resisters Support Campaign, "for us to keep getting together and talking about these situations and keep the energy bubbling at whatever level we can."

Mr. Watson, who is originally from Kansas City, Kansas, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2004. He was seeking work and wanted to support the troops in a noncombat role; he was told he could work as a cook. But shortly after arriving in Iraq, north of Mosul, in 2005, he was ordered to search civilian vehicles for explosives.

While there, Mr. Watson says he witnessed numerous instances of racism and physical abuse hurled at Iraqi civilians by American troops. That included a fellow soldier – angry over a divorce letter from his wife – who brutally beat an Iraqi civilian.

Back in the U.S. after a one-year deployment, he learned his unit would soon return to Iraq. That's when he fled to Vancouver, taking up work as a carpenter and eventually marrying a Canadian woman. In 2009, when his claim for refugee status was rejected and a deportation order issued, he claimed sanctuary at First United Church in the Downtown Eastside.

Last Thursday marked five years since Mr. Watson – now in his late 30s – has been confined to the one-bedroom apartment above the church, which he shares with his wife and five-year-old son.

Parliament has twice passed non-binding motions to stop the deportation of war resisters, but the Conservative government did not act on them. A private member's bill also failed. Mr. Watson's application to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds remains before the courts.

Former B.C. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh, an outspoken supporter of war resisters who appeared at a news conference with Mr. Watson when the army veteran first took sanctuary, said he is flummoxed by the lack of action. "For the life of me, I can't understand why our government will not allow these kinds of conscientious objectors to remain in the country while we keep [granting] citizenship to those who are rich, and bringing in temporary workers," he said in an interview on Sunday.

"What kind of a country are we building? I am really sad that [Mr. Watson] has been there for so long. It's not a partisan comment; with any other government I'd be saying the same thing. At some point, the government has to have a heart."

Within the church walls, Mr. Watson lives in a strange purgatory between freedom and incarceration; should he wander outside, he could be nabbed by border services officials and deported to the U.S., where he would likely face desertion charges. The church has described sanctuary as "a very important pause in the unfolding application of the law, allowing critical space for upholding justice rather than simple legal process."

Ms. Bjorknas said Mr. Watson experiences "definite periods of frustration" but remains "rock-solid on his position."

Libby Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East and a vocal supporter of Mr. Watson's, has for years called for the government to grant him permanent resident status.

"[Mr. Watson] has a lot of fortitude and a lot of patience and we've been trying to help him all that we can in getting the government to consider his case and to allow him to remain here in Canada," she said. "I just wish it would happen because I feel like he has put his life into this and he is a young man of conscience.

"There are a lot of people hanging in there with Rodney; we are not going to give up on him."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is facing pressure to explain Ottawa's deployment of soldiers – even as advisers – to northern Iraq this month.

"I don't expect armchair patriots or chickenhawks who NEVER served in a war zone to understand," Mr. Watson wrote in a Sept. 13 Facebook post. "I lost a friend while I was deployed to Mosul, Iraq and there's not a day that I don't think about why and for what?? And here we go AGAIN!!"

Mr. Watson could not be reached for an interview on Sunday.

With a report from The Canadian Press