Joyce Milgaard backs Pakistani family living in Winnipeg church

Joyce Milgaard, whose tireless work helped free her wrongly convicted son from prison, has taken on the case of the Raza family, whohave sought sanctuary from deportation in a Winnipeg church for almost a year.

Hassan Raza and Sarfraz Kausar and their six children have been living within the walls of Crescent Fort Rouge United Church since last August to avoid deportation to Pakistan, where they say they would face religious persecution.

'I just feel that the government has to have a fire lit underneath them, and I'm pretty good at lighting fires.' Joyce Milgaard

Now Joyce Milgaard is lending her name to the family'sfight to stay in Canada.

Milgaard is well-known for her relentless and eventually successful fight to have her son, David, released from prison after he was convicted of a murder he did not commit.

"I know what it's like, having someone in prison and here we're having all of them in prison,"Milgaard told CBCon Wednesday.

"It's not fair. It's not right."

Seeks meeting with immigration minister

Church officials have been trying to meet with Immigration Minister Diane Findley to discuss the Raza family's case. Milgaard says she's also trying to reach Findley.

"I've put a message infor her and I don't know, maybe I go and see another prime minister. Who knows?" said Milgaard, who received national attention when she confronted then-prime minister Brian Mulroney in front of the media about her son's case.

"Something hasto be done. It cannot be left the way it is.It's just appalling," she said.

"I just feel that the government has to have a fire lit underneath them, and I'm pretty good at lighting fires."

The congregation at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church is holding a rally Wednesday evening, World Refugee Day, in support of the Raza family. It will include performances from local musicians, as well as speeches from justice advocates. Admissionis free.

Family awaits application review

The Raza family has filed an application to stay in Canada on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.

In November, the federal Immigration Department turned down their appeal to leave sanctuary and live in Winnipeg while the application is reviewed.

Since leaving Pakistan in 1998, the family has lived in the United States, and has now been in Canada for more than four years. Two of the couple's six children were born here and are Canadian citizens.

The family sought refuge in the church Aug. 3, 2006, after a Federal Court rejected their refugee claim based on the threat of religious persecution.

Hassan Raza is a Shia Muslim, while Kausar is Sunni, and the family fears persecution in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country.