Canadians say U.S. conscientious objectors treated like refugees

Published: 2004-06-03

TORONTO (CNS) -- Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman of the 82nd Airborne and Pvt. Brandon Hughey of the 1st Cavalry Division are what the United States calls deserters. They hope they are also what Canadians will call political refugees. The two young American soldiers have chosen to move to Canada rather than serve in Iraq, challenging Canada's refugee system and the Catholic agencies that support refugees. Many in the anti-war camp are hoping Hinzman and Hughey are the leading edge of a more massive resistance. Draft dodgers who flooded Canada in the late 1960s and early 1970s -- an estimated 60,000 came to Canada to avoid service in Vietnam -- are rallying around the young men, along with peace activists and those opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Quakers housed Hinzman and Hughey when they arrived in Canada last winter, and jazz musician Bill King -- a Vietnam-era draft dodger -- organized a June 16 concert at the University of Toronto's Hart House to raise money for soldiers coming to Canada.

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